POLK COUNTY COMMISSION – DISTRICT 2 This district covers the southern half of the county including the cities/towns of Bartow, Fort Meade, Frostproof, Highland Park, Hillcrest Heights, Lake Wales, and Mulberry, as well as areas of southern Lakeland. The winner will replace Republican incumbant Randy Wilkinson, who is term-limited. — DEMOCRAT — Jacquelyn Smith: (Lakeland /Retired Federal Employee; Real [...]
GOVERNOR The winner will replace Republican incumbant Charlie Crist, who is running for the U.S. Senate — DEMOCRAT — Joe Lancelot Allen: (Key West / Retired Teacher) - Campaign Web Site - Michael E. Arth: (DeLand / Landscape & Urban Designer, Author) - Campaign Web Site – Facebook Page - Phillip J. Kennedy: (Crestview) - This candidate currently has no online [...]
UNITED STATES SENATE The winner will replace Republican incumbant George LeMieux, who was appointed to serve following the resignation of his predecessor Mel Martinez. — DEMOCRAT — Tyrone K. Brown, Sr.: (Daytona Beach / Pastor) – Campaign Web Site Kevin A. Burns: (North Miami / Realtor – Broker) – Campaign Web Site – Facebook Site Former Mayor, City of North [...]
At a time when our traditional words for describing political inclinations are losing all relationship to the way politics actually functions on the ground, Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, has carved out an original and powerful niche, if Republican voters are smart enough to seize it. She's a reasonable conservative populist.
Lakeland Ledger – Secrecy and Revelation: “Suppose Major League Baseball devised a new way to handle steroid use in the sport: Any report or positive test would be referred to a committee of players, who would investigate in secret and have complete authority to decide whether the player is punished. Would that give fans confidence the [...]
The contest as to who will replace Adam Putnam as the 12th District’s representative in Congress has gotten crowded. With Putnam and his significant campaign bank account stepping aside for a run to become Florida’s next Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services, six candidates have filed as of today. The latest to join the fray is [...]
We knew the announcement would come, but hopefully later rather than sooner. At approximately 1:45 this morning, my son was up watching Last Call with Carson Daly when the picture suddenly changed and the familiar opening strains of John Williams’ NBC News theme The Mission came up. Then the word that many had dreaded, that Massachusetts [...]
There are a couple of interesting bits from the world of local politics… First, it seems as though the Republican Party of Florida is clearly playing favourites in the race for Commissioner of Agriculture & Consumer Services. The Orlando Sentinel political blog Central Florida Political Pulse notes today that the RPOF has put out more than $146,000 [...]
Last week, over at Lakeland Local, I quite publicly labeled a letter-to-the-editor written by a Medicare recipient as the "dumbest letter ever written to The Ledger." The author had railed against the supposed liberal takeover, blah, blah, blah, of US health care (I only wish) while simultaneously praising his own Medicare coverage and insisting that he's worked all his life and nobody better screw with it. I'm paraphrasing, go see it for yourself. One commenter took me to task pretty thoughtfully in a pair of long comments he or she must have spent some time composing. I wanted to answer.
While adjusting my digital “rabbit ear” television antenna (too cheap for cable or satellite), I happened to come across the signal of WPBF-TV from West Palm Beach, an achievement in itself. But what amazed me was that although we are still 16 months from the election, at least one candidate is running TV ads…in this [...]
From the St. Pete Times: Muslim Capitol Day Largely Peaceful If it hadn't been for that pitched plunger battle Adam Hasner and Rush-the-Plumber waged against the burka-wearing Islamoblogofeminaziliberal hordes, it would have been entirely peaceful.
James MacMeekin has a fond nickname for Florida Governor Charlie Crist: "Florida’s first Socialist governor." Well, maybe not so fond. Read inside to get an idea why MacMeekin would write "Good luck, Chuck."
It should be very interesting watching today's Florida Senate session. Mixed in with all the business will be an address by U.S. Senator Bill Nelson, who will announce a wide-ranging federal election reform package proposal.The part of Nelson's package which will obviously attract the most attention is a constitutional amendment which would abolish the Electorial College which, after all the votes are counted, makes the final determination who becomes President of the United States. The EC is made up of representatives from each state equal to it's number of U.S. Senators and Representatives, and is intended to give smaller states greater weight instead of being overwhelmed by those states with much larger population. Instead, Nelson is suggesting a straight election by popular vote.Senator Nelson's reforms also include:--- Early voting in every state--- Absentee ballots on demand for any qualified voter, which is currently available in Florida.--- Ban voting machines that do not produce a paper trail.--- Grants to states to develop pilot projects for mail-in balloting and secure voting via the Internet.It also includes an idea which I have championed ever since last January: A series of rotating interregional presidential preference primaries and caucuses.What do you think?
Have you ever wondered just how many minor political parties are actually registered to raise money and present candidates for public office in Florida? Actually, their number is more than 30. Many of them are one-issue oriented organizations, and most are simply an operation of one or two, or maybe a small group of individuals seeking to provide an alternative from the Republicans and Democrats.I've put together this list so that you can see just how much of a choice we have when it comes to electing candidates for public office. Much of the information comes from the Florida Department of Elections site, with additional items from the Web sites of the parties listed as having links. One note for consideration: Many of the smaller political parties don't have the financial resource to rent it's own office, so the addresses and phone numbers are likely that of the party's chairman or other leader. Please keep that in mind in contacting them.America First Party of FloridaPost Office Box 352Fort White, FL 32038(321) 631-4026American Party of Florida609 East Main StreetAvon Park, FL 33825(863) 453-7223American Poor People Party5415 Santa Rosa WayJacksonville, FL 32211(904) 683-2294American Reform Party of Florida6999-02 Merrill Road, Apt. 265Jacksonville, FL 32277(904) 745-1250British Reformed Sectarian Party3108 Moss DriveCocoa, FL 32922(321) 638-8960Christian Party803 East MagnoliaArcadia, FL 34266(863) 494-0363Constitution Party of Florida16874 131st Way, NorthJupiter, FL 33478(800) 283-8647Ecology Party641 Southwest Sixth AvenueFort Lauderdale, FL 33315(888) 462-2468Faith & Patience, Inc. N.P.G.G.700 Southeast Fifth CourtPompano Beach, FL 33060(954) 785-0127Family Values Party2006 Woodbury DriveRoom 1-CCantonment, FL 32533(850) 968-9817Florida Democratic Party214 South Bronough StreetTallahassee, FL 32301(850) 222-3411 / FAX (850) 222-0916Florida Socialist Workers PartyPost Office Box 381395Miami, FL 33138(305) 756-4436Florida Whig Party2530 Dwyer LaneLake Mary, FL 32746(407) 314-9924Green Party of FloridaPost Office Box 1316Key West, FL 33041-1316(850) 474-1495Independence Party of FloridaPost Office Box 2206Riverview, FL 33568(904) 704-5392 or (813) 671-3122Independent American Party of Florida4618 Key Lime BoulevardLoxahatchee, FL 33470(561) 795-1335Independent Democrats of Florida525 West 49th StreetMiami Beach, FL 33140(305) 864-5110Independent Party of FloridaPost Office Box 100Largo, FL 33779(727) 585-1111Libertarian Party of Florida5901 Pendragon LaneFort Myers, FL 33912(800) 478-0555Moderate Party2595 Little Hill CoveApt. 212Ovideo, FL 32765(321) 517-9021Possibility Party606 Commodore DrivePlantation, FL 33325(954) 696-0550Progressive Libertarian Party4420 Beacon CircleWest Palm Beach, FL 33407(561) 632-0462Prohibition PartyPost Office Box 3554Milton, FL 32572(850) 686-1122Real Food Party of the United States of America14691 129th RoadLive Oak, FL 32060(386) 688-2805Reform Party of Florida309 Exeter StreetOldsmar, FL 3467(813) 855-1213 / FAX (813) 855-1426Republican Party of Florida420 East Jefferson StreetTallahassee, FL 32301Post Office Box 311Tallahassee, FL 32302-0311(850) 222-7920 / FAX (850) 681-0184Socialist Party of FloridaPost Office Box 22953Fort Lauderdale, FL 33335No Phone Contact ListedSurfers Party of Americac/o 29 Catalonia CourtSt. Augustine, FL 32086No Phone Contact ListedTerm Limits for the United States Congress PartyPost Office Box 819New Port Richey, FL 34656(727) 597-0225Veterans Party of America1115 Edgewood Avenue, SouthApt. 647Jacksonville, FL 32205(904) 738-8379
Former U.S. Senator and up to now Democratic presidential candidate Mike Gravel of Alaska announced today that he will be changing his affiliation to the Libertarian Party, and will seek to become it's nominee for president.In a statement posted on his campaign Web site, Gravel said he had been "repeatedly marginalized in both national debates and in media exposure by the Democratic leadership" and referred to the Democratic Party as an organization which "continues to sustain war, the military-industrial complex and imperialism".Gravel noted that the Libertarian Party is "considerably closer to my values, my foreign policy views and my domestic views". The Alaskan would become the 15th individual seeking to become the Libertarian nominee, which will be decided at the party's convention May 22-26 in Denver.This is yet another curve in Gravel's campaign. Just last month, while still very much a candidate for the Democratic nomination, he endorsed Green Party candidate Jesse Johnson.And so it goes...
Bio: Robert is a former radio personality, which ended with five years at Winter Haven station WHNR where he eventually rose to become Assistant Operations Manager. For the past decade he has continued to make a living running his mouth, working in the call center industry. Currently he is working as a Customer Services Professional at a local facility representing one of North America's major heating & air conditioning sales and repair companies.