Tampa Bay’s most powerful politicians: #21 – Ed Hooper

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#21 on the list of Tampa Bay’s most powerful politicians is State Representative Ed Hooper.

“Ed Hooper is a quiet leader. He is the lone Republican remaining from the 2006 class elected to the Florida House from Pinellas. … Hooper’s true power rests in his strength at the ballot box. Since 2006, his district has trended Democrat. Every cycle, the Democratic Party has targeted his seat and every cycle, it has fallen short. 

Recently, Rep. Hooper filed to run for the Pinellas County Commission in 2014 for a seat currently held by a Republican incumbent, Norm Roche.  Soon after, Roche told the Tampa Bay Times that he is considering moving to a different district. If that does not demonstrate how powerful Ed Hooper is, I am not sure what does. — Small business owner and GOP activist Chris Latvala

For a complete explanation of how this list was created and who comprised the panel which assembled it, please read here.

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.