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Hoping to ride Jeb’s 2016 coattails, S.V. Dáte leaves NPR

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Shirish “S.V.” Dáte, the former Tallahassee bureau chief of the Palm Beach Post, is stepping down as editor of the Washington Desk at National Public Radio.

Dáte  will cover the White House for National Journal, as well as Jeb Bush‘s all-but-announced campaign.

“Thanks, all, for the kind words. I’m thrilled to be joining National Journal and getting back to writing full time. Can’t wait to start!” he tweeted.

“Psyched to welcome @svdate to @nationaljournal,” tweeted NJ editor-in-chief Tim Grieve.

The Atlantic‘s Bob Cohn adds, “Here comes the @StanfordDaily takeover.”

Before his time at NPR, Dáte made his name for aggressive reporting on the former Florida governor – which became the book Jeb: America’s Next Bush.

Dáte made the announcement in a Friday email to his colleagues:

I sailed up the Chesapeake four years ago with the start of school just two months off, no place to live, no job and only one or two leads.

Thanks to NPR, I was able to get my sons re-settled into “civilization” with a minimum of disruption and angst, and also to resume my career in journalism. I’ve learned so much here, about radio, about Congress, about Washington in general. I owe that to you, as well.

I leave with mixed feelings. This is a first-class place with a lot of smart, talented people — but I think that at this moment, I need to seize the opportunity that the good former governor of Florida is providing and make the most of it.

Thank you all, and fair winds and following seas, although with 2016 already here, I’m confident our courses will be crossing often.

Dáte won recognition for his 2003 series on fraud and abuse in Bush’s prized school voucher programs prompting criminal investigations. He also reported in 2002 on the House Speaker’s hiring of an aide — a former Tallahassee Hooters waitress – resulting in Dáte becoming the first reporter in Florida history to be banned from the House.

Dáte has also authored several other books, including Quiet Passion, a biography of former Florida U.S. Sen. Bob Graham. His works have appeared in POLITICO Magazine, The Atlantic, National JournalThe Washington Post, The New Republic and Slate.

Peter Schorsch is the President of Extensive Enterprises and is the publisher of some of Florida’s most influential new media websites, including SaintPetersBlog.com, FloridaPolitics.com, ContextFlorida.com, and Sunburn, the morning read of what’s hot in Florida politics. SaintPetersBlog has for three years running been ranked by the Washington Post as the best state-based blog in Florida. In addition to his publishing efforts, Peter is a political consultant to several of the state’s largest governmental affairs and public relations firms. Peter lives in St. Petersburg with his wife, Michelle, and their daughter, Ella.

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