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La Gaceta endorses Shawn Harrison for HD 63

in The Bay and the 'Burg by
Shawn Harrison

La Gaceta, Tampa’s trilingual weekly newspaper, has endorsed incumbent Shawn Harrison in the state House District 63 race. Harrison, a one-term Republican, faces Democrat Lisa Montelione in the November general election. The area, which includes New Tampa, has been a swing district. An editorial in the newspaper — publishing articles in English, Spanish and Italian — said that “normally, we support Democrats, but lately we’ve noticed some Democrats aren’t acting like Democrats. Lisa Montelione is on that list.” Publisher Patrick Manteiga is also a Democratic political…

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Darryl Rouson and Ed Narain battle it out on policy in SD 19 NAACP sponsored debate

in The Bay and the 'Burg/Top Headlines by

The issue of school choice and vouchers is a touchy one for Democrats. In the Democratic Party platform that was completed last weekend in Orlando, it declares support for “high-quality public charter schools” and opposition to “for-profit charter schools focused on making a profit off of public resources.” The national NAACP, however, is against public support for school choice and vouchers, saying it takes away resources for public schools. At an NAACP sponsored campaign forum Tuesday night with the four Democrats running for the Senate District 19 seat in South…

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Patrick Manteiga was right about demise of Tampa Trib; so was Noah Pransky

in Peter/Top Headlines by

The shock from the news that the Tampa Bay Times has purchased and folded the Tampa Tribune has yet to wear off. In fact, there are probably a few hundred (maybe thousands) subscribers to the Trib who don’t pay attention to social media (think of all those seniors at Sun City Center) and were likely surprised this morning to see their regular newspaper replaced with the Times. While those folks may be caught off guard, two local journalists were definitely…

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La Gaceta’s Patrick Manteiga blasts local Dem consultant Tom Alte

in The Bay and the 'Burg/Top Headlines by

Respected Democratic voice Patrick Manteiga thumps local consultant Tom Alte in the latest edition of La Gaceta: We hear many supporters of Pinellas County Democratic Chair Susan McGrath are distancing themselves from her. McGrath is playing favorites in Democratic primaries and non-partisan races involving two Democrats. That taboo always causes trouble. One instance is her support of Lisa Wheeler-Brown against Will Newton in a City Council race. This took an interesting turn as Tom Alte had an elections complaint filed…

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Hillsborough County PLG officials offer a wary perspective on proposed transit tax

in The Bay and the 'Burg/Top Headlines by

In the eight days since Hillsborough County Administrator Mike Merrill and the members of the private transportation consulting group Parsons Brinckerhoff unveiled a proposed half-cent sales transportation tax that could be on the 2016 ballot, it has been met with decidedly mixed opinion. That’s because the measure as proposed would go largely toward road and bridge maintenance, new roads and intersection improvements. Just 36 percent is proposed for transit. Nowhere has that disappointment been more clearly articulated than Friday on the front page of the…

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Mike Reedy says Shawn Harrison showed no leadership in 2015 Legislative Session

in The Bay and the 'Burg/Top Headlines by

The consensus among political pundits in Florida is that state Republicans won’t be hurt by the budget impasse that led the Legislature to break three days early last month. Those observers, though, acknowledge it could make a difference on the margins, in those few swing legislative districts across the state. One is House District 63, occupied by Republican Shawn Harrison. He’s being challenged next year by Democrat Mike Reedy, who works as a statewide business organizer for Equality Florida, the biggest LGBT…

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Mike Reedy says Shawn Harrison failed to show leadership in 2015 legislative session

in Top Headlines by

The consensus among political pundits in Florida is that state Republicans won’t be hurt by the budget impasse that led the Legislature to break early last month, before they were able to pass their constitutional duties to pass a budget. Those same analysts do acknowledge that it could make a difference on the margins, in those few swing legislative districts sprinkled throughout the state. One of those districts in the House is HD 63, currently occupied by Republican Shawn Harrison. He’s…

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