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25 Most Powerful Politicians in Tampa Bay - page 5

#3 on list of Tampa Bay’s Most Powerful Politicians — Bob Buckhorn

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For Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn, his past year started with a smashing re-election victory, a high note that soured fast as political setbacks arose. His standing in this year’s survey fell from 2 to 3. In his re-election, Buckhorn took nearly 96 percent of the vote against virtually no competition: He defeated a write-in candidate. A tough spring and summer followed, however. The pain began as the Tampa Bay Times reported disproportional citations of black bicyclists by the Tampa Police Department. The…

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#4 on list of Tampa Bay’s Most Powerful Politicians — David Jolly

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Congressional District 13 U.S. Representative David Jolly never intended to run for U.S. Senate two years after winning a special election victory to succeed the late C.W. Bill Young, his former mentor and boss. Then two things happened: Presumed GOP Senate front-runner Jeff Atwater dropped out of the race, and the Florida Supreme Court ordered the several districts, including Jolly’s be redrawn. The upshot is the new district went from being a plus-2 GOP seat to a strongly Democratic-leaning one.…

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#5 on list of Tampa Bay’s Most Powerful Politicians — Bill Galvano

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Bradenton Republican Bill Galvano remains the Florida Senate’s majority leader until later this year. As the Senate’s redistricting chief, Galvano took up the task last summer after Senate leaders opted to give up defending its maps. They conceded that it had violated the state Constitution when it had drawn new congressional and state Senate boundaries in 2011. In December, the mild-mannered Galvano defended a proposed map that the Senate presented to a Leon County judge. The judge, however, sided against…

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#6 on list of Tampa Bay’s Most Powerful Politicians — Wilton Simpson

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Wilton Simpson, the 49-year-old state Senator from Trilby, continues his ascent in the Legislature’s upper chamber, moving up in the SPB power rankings from #19 to 2014 to #15 in 2015 to a tie for #6 in year’s ranking. The chair of the Community Affairs Committee, Simpson represents Senate District 18. However, he’s moving into the newly created Senate District 10 later this year, which includes a third of Pasco County and all of Hernando and Citrus counties to the north.…

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#6 on list of Tampa Bay’s Most Powerful Politicians — Tom Lee

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Tom Lee remains one of the Senate’s most powerful Republicans in Tallahassee and keeps the same ranking from 2015. The Brandon Republican, who returned to the chamber in 2012 after a six-year hiatus, holds one of the Legislature’s most powerful positions as the Senate’s budget chief. “The guy is not only cool under pressure but he’s been to this dance before,” Nick Iarossi, a lobbyist close to Lee, told the News Service of Florida last year. “He’s incredibly intelligent, methodical…

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#7 on list of Tampa Bay’s Most Powerful Politicians — Bob Gualtieri

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As legislative chairman of the Florida Sheriffs Association, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri has become a regular presence during the Legislative Session in Tallahassee in recent years. That high-profile stance put him in the figurative line of fire in December. That’s when his comments about the controversial open carry legislation led to intense criticism from National Rifle Association members. Gualtieri’s comments, which he said were taken out of context, were posted by a blogger for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Later distributed…

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#8 on list of Tampa Bay’s Most Powerful Politicians — Jeff Brandes

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No state legislator likely has as many interests as St. Petersburg state Senator Jeff Brandes, who has continued to exert power as chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee. Always a prolific lawmaker, the 40-year-old libertarian-leaning legislator introduced 41 separate bills going into the 2016 Session. They included proposals for statewide regulation of ridesharing companies, for banning red-light camera programs, to stop the practice of suspending driver’s licenses, and to reform civil asset forfeiture laws so they require a conviction before…

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