Late last week, Duke Energy Florida promised power-deprived residents in Pinellas County that with a few exceptions, everyone who had lost electricity due to Hurricane Irma would have it restored by midnight Friday. That didn’t happen.
State Sen. Jack Latvala called Tuesday for electric utilities in Florida to stop donating to political campaigns and instead spend the money on improving their power grid infrastructure. Latvala, a Republican gubernatorial candidate from Clearwater, has received electric company money in his political committee, Florida Leadership Committee, but not nearly as much as his Republican rival Agricultural Commissioner Adam Putnam has in his Florida Grown political committee.
Looking to return to Tallahassee next year in a Senate seat, former Rep. Ed Hooper, a Clearwater Republican, raised $51,400 in August, according to a newly filed finance report.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gwen Graham believes Florida should have been better prepared to handle the impact of Hurricane Irma. “The state of Florida was not ready for this storm,” Graham declared Saturday night. The 54-year-old attorney and former Tallahassee-area congresswoman made the comments while delivering the keynote address before a record crowd at the Hillsborough County Democratic Executive Committee’s annual Kennedy-King Dinner in downtown Tampa.
Republican candidate for governor and state Sen. Jack Latvala says state officials may have “overdone it” in preparing for Hurricane Irma.
Republican gubernatorial candidate and state Sen. Jack Latvala raised $273,000 last month for his political committee, according to updated reports on the committee website.
Senate Appropriations Chair Jack Latvala will hold the first fundraiser of his gubernatorial campaign on Sept. 7 in Clearwater.
