Florida-based politicians will be keeping an eye on the Family Research Councils presidential straw poll at the Value Voters Summit coming up this weekend in Washington. Theres a whopping 17 Republicans whose name will be featured in contention.
While its no surprise that the likes of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich and U.S. Rep. Ron Paul are featured, there will be two Republicans from Florida featured in the voting as well -- former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who ran in 2008 and moved to the Panhandle earlier in the year, and former House Speaker Marco Rubio, who is the Republican nominee in the U.S. Senate race While his brief tenure in Washington may be ending soon, Florida Republican George LeMieux continues to make a larger impression than most appointed members of the Senate. Last week, while commending South Korea for launching sanctions against Iran, LeMieux continued his push for lowering trade-restrictions, this time calling for passing a trade agreement with South Korea. The agreement has been bottled up in the Capitol for years On Tuesday afternoon, U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, the Democratic nominee in the U.S. Senate race, will announce the formation of "Veterans with Kendrick." The veterans outreach program will be led by General James Hill, who led the U.S. Southern Command and served more than three and a half decades in the Army
Fresh from his role in leading efforts to lure the 2012 Republican convention to Tampa Bay and his active role in Pam Bondis successful bid to win the Republican nomination for attorney general, former Gov. Bob Martinez will be the keynote speaker on Wednesday at the summit hosted by the St. Johns River Alliance. The former governor is not the only political big-wig at the event. Current Jacksonville Mayor John Peyton and former Jacksonville Mayor John Delaney, now president of the University of North Florida, will also be speaking at the event. So will Sen. John Thrasher of Jacksonville, the chairman of the Republican Party of FloridaHUD Deputy Secretary Ron Sims announced on Thursday that $45 million of federal money was headed towards Tampa Bay to buy and renovate foreclosed homes. Attending the announcement were two prominent Florida Democrats -- U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor and Tampa Mayor Pam IorioSpeaking of Castor, her Republican opponent Mike Prendergast has a busy week, appearing at a candidates forum in Forest Hills on Tuesday and speaking to the USF College Republicans chapter on Thursday
Looking to fend off a challenge from Sen. Charlie Justice, D-St. Petersburg, U.S. Rep. Bill Young, the dean of the House Republicans, is running a commercial stressing his commitment to jobs in the Tampa Bay region. While Democrats were initially hopeful about Young being a prime target in 2010, the veteran incumbent has done well in out-raising Justice Looking to avoid raising taxes, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer is banking on increasing user fees on everything from recreational activities to taxi permits Gov. Charlie Crist has a field of seven applicants to choose from to appoint to a Clay County School Board seat. Former member Charles Van Zant Jr., the son of the conservative House member, has been called to service in Afghanistan and was forced to vacate the seat. Backed by a number of House members from the region, Van Zant called on Crist to appoint his wife Stephanie to the position. Leslie Dougher from the Clay County Republican Party Executive Committee called on Crist to name Karen Lake, an administrator with Santa Fe Community College, to the vacant position
While Pastor Terry Jones did not burn a copy of the Quran to mark the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on Saturday, Operation Rescue Founder Randall Terry, best known to Floridians for his role in defending Teri Schiavo and his unsuccessful bid to knock off Sen. Jim King in the Republican primary, led a protest against Islam in front of the White House, where the group ripped pages out of the Muslim holy book Representative Geraldine Thompson, D-Orlando, received the FEAs Mary McLeod Bethune Human Relations in Education AwardOn Monday, Sen. Dan Gelber of Miami Beach, the Democratic candidate for attorney general, announced that Aaron Blye was joining his campaign team as press secretary. Blye served on the staff of Rep. Kelly Skidmore, D-Boca Racton, and Rep. Keith Fitzgerald, D-Sarasota. He also worked on the campaign teams of U.S. Rep. Allen Boyd and Skip Campbell, the Democratic nominee for AG back in 2006.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859
