News & Public Affairs

Ken Welch won't run for St. Petersburg mayor listen

02/03/09 Seán Kinane
Listen to this entire show:

Tags: Politics, St. Petersburg mayor's race, Ken Welch

Pinellas County Commissioner Ken Welch was considering a run for St. Petersburg mayor. But Welch announced in an email late last night that he will not run for mayor, instead he will continue on the County Commission.

“Very difficult decision. … I think for right now the place I need to be is right here (on the Pinellas County Commission),” Welch said this morning.

1 comments

Democratic senator discusses Sansom, culture of Tallahassee listen

02/02/09 Mitch E. Perry
Listen to this entire show:

Tags: Politics, Ray Sansom, Dave Aronberg

On Friday, House Speaker Ray Sansom announced he was recusing himself from his authority so he could concentrate on the various investigations ongoing regarding his acceptance of a job at Northwest Florida Juinor College.

But in stepping aside instead of resigning, Sansom cited an obscure House rule allowing him to remain as the speaker but delegate the responsibilities of the position to someone else until he feels he is "fit" to resume.

Dave Aronberg is a Democratic state Senator. ...

Be the first to comment

Latino advocates say GOP still doesn't get it listen

01/28/09 Mitch E. Perry
Listen to this entire show:

Tags: Immigration, politics, Republicans

The Latino vote went overwhelmingly for Barack Obama in the 2008 election, a big difference than what happened between John Kerry and George W. Bush in 2004.

Tomorrow, a group of conservatives are expected to present a report in Washington that will show in detail that every single House Republican who lost last year was because they either supported amnesty, or the Democrat supported tough border security.

The event is called “Immigration and the Future of the Republican Party”, and w...

Be the first to comment

Buckhorn speculates on Iorio entry into Senate race listen

01/28/09 Mitch E. Perry
Listen to this entire show:

Tags: Politics, U.S. Senate, Pam Iorio, Mel Martinez, Dan Gelber, Kendrick Meek

Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio said yesterday that she is considering a run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Republican Mel Martinez next year.

Her comments came on the same day Democratic state Sen. Dan Gelber joins Miami area Congressman Kendrick Meek as the only declared candidates at this early stage.

Iorio says several people have asked her to run after Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink declined to run earlier this month.

Bob Buckhorn is a former Tampa City Councilman wh...

1 comments

Keith Olbermann on conservatives, Bush and Obama listen

01/27/09 Mitch E. Perry
Listen to this entire show:

Tags: Keith Olbermann, Super Bowl, politics

Today was Media Day at Raymond James Stadium; thousands of credentialed reporters descended upon all of the Arizona Cardinals and Pittsburgh Steelers for sound bites.

It was also Media Day with the top media who will be broadcasting Sunday night’s championship game – which this year, for the first time in a decade, is the NBC network.

WMNF had the opportunity to speak with Keith Olbermann, best known now as the host of the popular liberal prime time cable news show “Countdown.” But Olb...

Be the first to comment

Scott Wagman on candidacy for St. Pete mayor listen

01/22/09 Seán Kinane
Listen to this entire show:

Tags: Politics, St. Petersburg mayor's race, Jamie Bennett, Bill Foster, Deveron Gibbons, Sharon Russ, Paul Congemi, Scott Wagman

St. Petersburg will elect a new mayor in November and the race is already becoming crowded. City Council Chair Jamie Bennett, former City Councilman Bill Foster, Amscot Vice President Deveron Gibbons, activist Sharon Russ and retired builder Paul Congemi have already announced their candidacies.

Also in the running is businessman and investor Scott Wagman, the previous owner of Scott Paint.

Wagman has hired political consultant Mitch Kates, who managed the victorious campaigns of thre...

Be the first to comment

Obama Inauguration watching parties held around town listen

01/20/09 Seán Kinane
Listen to this entire show:

Tags: Politics, Barack Obama, inauguration

At least six inauguration-watching parties occurred throughout the Tampa Bay area today. More than 1,000 enthusiastic supporters watched President Barack Obama deliver his inaugural address on the screen of the Tampa Theatre. Nearly 200 people watched at the Bible Based Fellowship Church in Carrollwood. WMNF’s Seán Kinane has this report.

Before the church aired television coverage of Obama taking the oath of office, a pane...

Be the first to comment

Reporter: President Obama's biggest challenges listen

01/16/09 Mitch E. Perry
Listen to this entire show:

Tags: Politics, foreign policy

David Sanger covers the White House for the New York Times, and is the author of the new book, The Inheritance: The World Obama Confronts and the Challenges to American Power.

Among the revelations in the book is that the U.S. has funded the Pakistani government to the tune of nearly $100 million to safely store their nuclear weapons.

Sanger writes that this underlines a central concern among foreign policy officials in Washington: The fear that nuclear weapons could fall into un...

Be the first to comment

Pat Kemp and Deborah Cox-Rousch at Tiger Bay listen

01/16/09 Seán Kinane
Listen to this entire show:

Tags: Politics, Deborah Cox-Rousch, Pat Kemp

The newly elected Republican and Democratic Party chairs for Hillsborough County faced off this afternoon in front of the Tiger Bay Club of Tampa.

Deborah Cox-Rousch is the new Republican Party chair and Pat Kemp is her Democratic counterpart.

Deborah Cox-Rousch owns a catering business and told the Tiger Bay audience that there was a simple reason why she decided to run for Republican chair.

“The one thing that really changed my mind was on Fox News ...

Be the first to comment

ACLU lays out its legislative goals for 2009 listen

01/13/09 Mitch E. Perry
Listen to this entire show:

Tags: ACLU, politics, legislative agenda

As the 111th Congress begins its work this week, the ACLU today listed its legislative goals on a nationwide conference call this morning.

Yesterday, Barack Obama's transition team announced plans to close the prison detainee camp at Guatanamo Bay immediately, though what they will do with those prisoners still housed there is unknown.

Caroline Frederickson, director of the ACLU’s Washington Legislative Office, said that is one of their goals as well. On a nationwide conference call, s...

Be the first to comment