Every time I drive past the Seminole Hard Rock Casino on I-4, there’s a little queasiness in my stomach. That’s because I am a gambler who really doesn’t gamble anymore. And the unease I feel is some sort of psychosomatic leftover from my hard days as a gambler. Put me next to a slot machine, I’m gonna pull the lever. Along the same lines, if it’s Election Day, I’m gonna make some predictions. I can’t help myself. So here are…
This should not be happening to Rick Kriseman. He should not be on the verge of finishing second, if not losing, today’s mayoral primary in St. Petersburg. This is not how Kriseman envisioned it four years ago after he unseated incumbent Bill Foster, beating him by 12 points.
Sunburn – The morning read of what’s hot in Florida politics. By Peter Schorsch, Phil Ammann, Mitch Perry and Jim Rosica. Joe Henderson has today’s topper. Like all of you, I have been mesmerized watching reports about the catastrophe in Texas from Hurricane Harvey. Just couldn’t believe what I was seeing, and couldn’t help thinking what it would be like if a storm like Harvey washed ashore from the mouth of Tampa Bay.
There are not enough flame emojis on my keyboard to adequately denote what follows as a pure hot take, so here goes… If Rick Baker falls a few hundred votes short of winning Tuesday’s mayoral primary in St. Petersburg, will he have President Donald Trump to blame? Baker needs to win fifty-percent-plus-one of the vote to avoid a November run-off election versus incumbent Rick Kriseman. Let’s say for the purpose of this hot take that Baker finishes with 49.5 to…
As discussed ad infinitum, the only drama in tomorrow’s mayoral race is whether Rick Baker wins enough of the vote to avoid a November runoff versus incumbent Rick Kriseman. The most recent survey from St. Pete Polls shows Baker with a seven-point lead and within striking distance of the fifty-percent-plus-one threshold. However, Kriseman’s campaign believes it has the Big Mo after the staunch Democrat was endorsed Friday by former president Barack Obama.
Sunburn – The morning read of what’s hot in Florida politics. By Peter Schorsch, Phil Ammann, Mitch Perry and Jim Rosica. As Florida politics barrels towards Labor Day weekend and the end of Summer, the three announced Democrats running for governor will appear today at the Forum Club of the Palm Beaches.
An Orlando entrepreneur is now demanding a jury trial in his suit against Attorney General Pam Bondi, in which he claims she forces businesses to donate millions of dollars to unregistered charities as part of settlements in consumer protection cases. John D. Smith, who invented Storm Stoppers plastic panels, marketed as a “plywood alternative” to protect windows during storms, filed papers this week in Leon County Circuit Civil court. He had been investigated on a consumer fraud allegation by Bondi’s office in 2015. In…
