U.S. Congressional News

Senate Race Looking More Competitive -- on One Side, Anyway

Flickr: maurice.ferreFerre​Charlie Crist continues to lead in polls, but former House Speaker Marco Rubio has all the momentum in the battle for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate. During a quarter when he appeared on the cover of the National Review, dominated straw polls, and received hig ... More >>

The LeMieux-Crist Master Plan Revealed: Senate Dominance by 2012

Yes, you heard right. In the closing moments of that Capital News Service video, the reporter says that Broward County trailblazer George LeMieux "is leaving open the possibility that he'll run for U.S. Senate in 2012," when that darned Democrat Bill Nelson is up for reelection. Which means if his ... More >>

Meek, Rubio, I-Team Ganging Up on Crist and LeMieux, But Other Broward Dems Are Gun-Shy

Congressman Kendrick Meek just posted the above video from CBS 4's Tuesday newscast to his campaign's YouTube account, and you can see why. It shows Charlie Crist playing dumb about the role that George LeMieux's law firm, Gunster Yoakley, played in getting visas for the immigrant workers who were h ... More >>

Crist's Bulldog in Lipstick

George LeMieux: Looks better in a skirt than in a U.S. senator's seat.​Citing a Marco Rubio campaign ad, St. Petersburg Times politics blog Buzz earlier today asked whether Charlie Crist had "pulled a McCain" -- committing a tactical blunder that gives his opponent evidence that he's out of touch ... More >>

In Final (?) Installment of the Lemieux Report, Broward Senator-to-Be Pooh-Poohs Elections

There's your new, unelected U.S. senator, Florida, in his former role as pseudojournalist. I don't throw that term around lightly. It's just that in "Topic One" and "Topic Four," our Broward-based correspondent George LeMieux has sources that can give us a huge helping of inside dirt -- namely, him ... More >>

Shameless: Crist Taps LeMieux for Senate

It seemed too nakedly cynical to be possible -- and yet it just happened. Pass the smelling salts.We warned Charlie Crist this could be his Harriet Miers moment. He didn't listen -- to us or to the people in his campaign who must have had the same anxieties. If Crist gets just half the public backla ... More >>

Meek Lambastes Crist for LeMieux Appointment; Rubio, When Will You Tweet?

U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek​Congressman Kendrick Meek, the leading Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate just released a statement about Charlie Crist's announcement that he was appointing former chief of staff George LeMieux to the Senate seat vacated by Mel Martinez.From the moment Senator Martinez a ... More >>

Lawyer Pals Cheer LeMieux at Fort Lauderdale City Hall

Photo by Lisa RabLeMieux hugs a friend while Crist looks on.​Standing next to Gov. Charlie Crist's famously tanned mug, George LeMieux looks positively pasty, like a British-transfer student on the first day of spring break. But no one cared this afternoon at Fort Lauderdale City Hall, where Crist ... More >>

Sotomayor Confirmed for Supreme Court

As was widely expected (and dreaded, in conservative quarters) the U.S. Senate gave its approval to Barack Obama's appointment for U.S. Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor. Florida's Sen. Mel Martinez was one of just nine Republicans to cast a vote in favor of the appointment. That's because he fell head ... More >>

Rubio Wins the Week in GOP Senate Race

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the EconomyU.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio scored two big endorsements this week, plus the criticism of from one of those Democrat-leaning MSNBC talking heads, which kinda counts as an endorsement. About 1:10 in the video above, Hardbal ... More >>

But Does Charlie Like Fish Sticks?

In picking the week's best quotes for its "Verbatim" page, Time magazine prizes drama (a quote from the co-pilot killed in the plane crash near Buffalo), candor (Jesse Ventura saying what he'd do with a waterboard and Dick Cheney), and gaffes, especially the kind that reveal more truth than they int ... More >>

Crist Jumps Into Senate Race

Flickr User: CABridgesThe would-be future senator with the soon-to-be past Sen. Martinez.Now we got ourselves a bona fide political jamboree. Charlie Crist will seek Florida's U.S. Senate seat on behalf of the Dixiecrat, I mean the Whig, I mean the (could this be right?) Republican Party, even thoug ... More >>

High Voter Turnout a Crisis That Calls for Quick Republican Action

The media klieg lights are always on, but they dim just a tad around the close of the business day Friday. Everybody's off to happy hour, or making the week's last commute home. Media consumers take a break to spend time with friends and family, and it may be late in the weekend before they bother t ... More >>

Speaker Pelosi Visiting Hollywood Monday

Flickr user: jurvetsonNancy PelosiNancy Pelosi will appear at a news conference Monday with Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz to announce $1.5 million in funding for Broward Community & Family Health Centers. That money's a tiny chunk of the nearly $800 billion federal stimulus package that ... More >>

Florida's 2010 Races Taking Shape; Meek Looking Strong

Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Kendrick Meek, of Miami,continues to tear up the fund-raising circuit -- an article in today's Roll Call says Meek will report $1.5 million in campaign dollars in the year's first quarter, which ended March 31. His primary competition for that nomination, Florida ... More >>

Legislators Pay Lip Service to Dreaded Compromise

FLHouse.govHasnerCompromise is what distinguishes the effective, conscientious governments from the dysfunctional ones, and the lack of it has been a drag on the Florida Legislature for some time. One would think that this year's gaping, $6 billion budget hole would make compromisers out of the stub ... More >>

Seminoles: Senate Version of Compact, Please

The Florida House and Senate have both drafted legislation that would dramatically alter the games at Seminole casinos. Either the Tribe's profits will take a huge leap back or huge leap forward.The House version scales back the games that the Tribe can offer, eliminating card games so that the casi ... More >>

Waste Reduction a Red-hot Political Trend

With Americans stressing about the economy, politicians at every level are either skimping on the usual luxuries that come with elected office, or pillorying their rivals for failing to do so. But mostly, they're trying to do both.The Obama administration, which staged a bargain basement inauguratio ... More >>

Karen Thurman Talks About Gubernatorial Race

The St. Pete Times political blog, The Buzz, just posted this interview with Florida Democratic Party Chair Karen Thurman: At about the 90-second mark, Thurman responds to criticism that the party lacks a "bench" by touting Jack Seiler's victory in the Fort Lauderdale mayoral race. If a Democrat win ... More >>

Meek Inching Closer to Frontrunner Status

It would be one thing if a South Florida paper was heralding U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek as the frontrunner in the U.S. Senate's Democratic primary for 2010. It's a far more auspicious thing that a Tampa Bay paper is making that claim, albeit with some hesitation. Along with Orlando, Jacksonville and th ... More >>

Recap: Crist on Meet the Press

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist faced off with David Gregory on NBC's Meet the Press a few minutes ago. Crist started by stressing the importance of bipartisan support for President Obama's stimulus package, then ended by... well... essentially withdrawing his own support for the package.Host Gregory beg ... More >>

Wasserman Schultz Pushing for Delay in Digital TV Switch

Starting February 18, television signals are scheduled switch to digital, meaning that people with analog televisions (read: the elderly) who don't have converter boxes would lose their signal. But today the U.S. House of Representatives voted to push conversion back to June. President Obama is expe ... More >>

Crist Gives Tepid Denial to Senate Rumors

The governor says it's "more than likely" he will run for reelection as governor rather than seeking the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Mel Martinez, as has been rumored. Weak, Charlie! You've left yourself acres of wiggle room. And the attempt at changing the subject to your chat with Obama ... More >>

Down Goes Sansom

House Speaker Ray Sansom stepped down today. He's the one who lobbied to win state funds for a college, which then gave him a $110,000 job -- a chain of events that Sansom would have us believe were unrelated. Sansom has said he "welcomed" an investigation, which is good, because he got one -- actua ... More >>

The Stage Is Set: Katherine Harris, Will You Please Run for U.S. Senate?

Man, I turn my head for one day (to work on some print edition goodies) and all hell breaks loose in that 2010 Senate race. Democratic Rep. Allen Boyd is out. Democratic State Sen. Dan Gelber is in. Attorney General Bill McCollum is out. It's such a free-for-all that even Tampa's Democratic mayor is ... More >>

Oh, hey. Dr. Marion Thorpe Also Is Running for Senate

Yep, while nobody (except maybe the unsleeping eye of Anthony Man) was watching, Dr. Marion Thorpe announced that he would be proud to serve Florida in the U.S. Senate. That declaration didn't make much of a splash. Hell, the Quinniapac poll released last week didn't even bother factoring Thorpe, th ... More >>

FL Congressional Members Have Heated Offices, Bitchin' Doors

Since I was in Washington this week, I figured I'd stop by the Capitol to pay our congressional delegation a visit. Also, because it's heated.I caught a few minutes (and I do mean a few... like, seven) with a very busy Rep. Debbie Wasserman Shultz (above), who said that this session, "priority numbe ... More >>

Quinniapac Picks the Next U.S. Senator, Governor for Florida

McCollum (left) and Crist are the frontrunners.The Quinniapac University Bobcats cannot wait for us Floridians to pick our own U.S. Senator in 2010. Besides, Florida will probably have its votes stripped by Howard Dean again, anyway. So Quinniapac staged the election for us and... hello, U.S. Senato ... More >>

From Mel To Meek? Miami Congressman Launches Senate Bid

At the top of the hour, baby-faced U.S. Rep Kendrick Meek, the Democrat from Miami, will announce his bid for the U.S. Senate in 2010 when Republican Sen. Mel Martinez steps down. Being the first from either party to declare, Meek's given himself nearly two years to campaign.Which is a good thing, b ... More >>

Florida Is Cleaner

No sale!

My Lunch With Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz

On Wednesday I met Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz at Jaxson's Ice Cream Parlor on U.S. 1 in Dania Beach for a wide-ranging discussion -- including my paranoid delusions about the sinister deal-cutting that must take place when voters aren't watching.The congresswoman insists that she ... More >>

Now That's What I Call Malfeasance!

Every now and then, a news story will come along and remind us that South Florida did not invent the phenomenon of public corruption. In Chicago they've been doing it longer and better than anyone else. Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is the latest example for his breathtakingly audacious scheme to sh ... More >>

Is Republican Cannibalism Afoot in Florida?

Being a trafficker in rank speculation and flimsy rumors, I can't help but admire the science-based speculation and rumor creation available on FiveThirtyEight.com, which I checked approximately 642 times daily in October. The captain of this vessel is Nate Silver, who crunches poll numbers in a way ... More >>

Sentinel Reporter Hollis Taking Job With State Democrats

Lady of the House

She's got three kids, 650,000 constituents, and millions of watching eyes. Debbie Wasserman Schultz can't keep them all happy.

Jim Moran, Tax Cheat

Mel Martinez: Two-Timing Man

Foley Cried At Pages' Farewell Ceremony

As Suspected ...

Bush Digs Hastert

Hastert Points to St. Pete Times

Hallelujah and Praise E & P

Post's Mark Foley Policy Backfires

What Did Hastert Know, and When Did He Know It?

Pulp Nonfiction

A whistle blower alleges that U.S. Rep. Tom Feeney might have rigged the election in South Florida

Last Candidate Standing

Davie's Richard Grayson has built a political career of joke campaigns

Taking Stock of Bob Graham

The South Florida senator and presidential candidate wheels and doodles

A Double Whammy

Two top execs at the gaming company that Boulis built have deep ties to the Christian right

Minority Madness

Wisecracking Democrats in Tallahassee were steamrollered during the presidential contest. But they didn't take it lying down.

Impeachment as Cache

If there's anyone who can feel Bill Clinton's pain, it's ousted-judge-turned-congressman Alcee Hastings