At least one prominent Florida Democrat is encouraging state CFO Alex Sink, who narrowly lost to Rick Scott in the gubernatorial election, to remain open to making another bid for office.
Sinks husband Bill McBride -- best known for running against Gov. Jeb Bush in 2002 --is reportedly telling her to keep her options open for making another bid for statewide office Former Tampa Mayor Dick Greco is running for his old job yet again. Greco announced on Monday that he will make his third bid to be mayor. Greco served as mayor from 19671974 and then again from 19952003 ... U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam, the incoming state agriculture and consumer services commissioner, came back from the Thanksgiving break on Monday to work on transition issues in Gainesville and Tallahassee
Keep your eyes on the National League of Cities 2010 Congress of Cities & Exposition which will be in Denver from Wednesday until Saturday. Two political stars from Florida -- both of whom are the subjects of whispers about possible presidential campaigns in either 2012 or 2016 -- will be speaking. Former Gov. Jeb Bush and former U.S. Rep. Joe Scarborough, now the host of a morning talk show on MSNBC, will be on center stage Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, will be ringing a bell for the Salvation Army at the Gulfview Square in Port Richey for six hours on Friday Interim Secretary of State Dawn Roberts announced that painter James Hutchinson and singer/songwriter Johnny Tillotson will be inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame in March
Terry Jones is not going away. Jones, the pastor from the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, made headlines earlier in the year when he planned to mark the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks by holding a Quran-burning ceremony, will be in Los Angeles in December to take aim at the treatment of Christians in Egypt. Jones will be joined by a number of groups rallying in front of the Egyptian consulate, attempting to raise awareness of anti-Christian attacks in that country Speaking of Jones and the Dove World Outreach Center, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has included that church in an articlefocusing on 18 anti-gay organizations. The controversial SPLC, which has been attacked from both the left and the right for its fund-raising appeals and management of funds, has included two other groups based in Florida on the list -- Liberty Counsel in Orlando and Coral Ridge Ministries in Fort Lauderdale. The SPLC has also taken aim at some well-established groups including the Family Research Council (FRC), the American Family Association and Concerned Women for America by placing them on the list. The SPLC vows to include some of these organizations as hate groups. Tony Perkins of the FRC quickly fired back, defending their role in the fight for traditional marriage and accusing the SPLC of being more concerned with raising money than actually doing anything productive
State Education Commissioner Eric Smith will be attending the Excellence in Action National Summit on Education Reform in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. Smith will be involved with both the general session of the meeting as well as a special session that will focus on the states strategies to lead to greater student success Former Rep. Aaron Bean transferred from running for the 8th Senate District -- currently held by Sen. John Thrasher, R-Jacksonville --to the 5th Senate District, which is currently held by Sen. Stephen Wise, R-Jacksonville. With Wise facing term limits in 2012, most of the donors who filled Beans war chest with almost $245,000 are staying with him and not demanding refunds. While there are two years to go, Bean is shaping up to be a strong candidate and a favorite to head back to Tallahassee Dont expect former House Majority Leader Adam Hasner to fade away now that he is term-limited out of the House. Hasner remains active with the Center for Security Policy, a neo-conservative think tank based out of Washington, and will be involved with efforts to push for a federal balanced budget. Hasners continued activities will do nothing to dampen down talk that he could run for the U.S. Senate in 2012.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
