Update: From the Orlando Sentinel: …the Atlanta-based U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals prevented a late-night meeting of the Florida Clemency Board, which was called by Gov. Rick Scott to comply with the lower court’s Thursday deadline to adopt new voting rights restoration rules. A felon voting rights fix will appear on Florida’s November ballot, but a court… Read more »
Good morning, welcome to Radioactivity. I’m Rob Lorei. ACORN was once the largest political movement of low and moderate income people in the US- but it was destroyed by an attack- from conservative media. We’ll look at the history of ACORN this morning and hear from its founder Wade Rathke who will be in St…. Read more »
Going back to last summer, Tallahassee Mayor and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum has been critical of some of the votes made by opponent Gwen Graham during her single term in Congress. With the race for the nomination now beginning to heat up, Winter Park businessman Chris King has now joined in attacking her record…. Read more »
Radioactivity 4 20 18 Today on WMNF’s Radioactivity investigative reporter Greg Palast (The Guardian, The BBC, Rolling Stone Magazine) says that while FOX News and President Trump say that millions of people voted illegally in the last election there is no evidence that is true. In fact he says a trial on the matter currently… Read more »
Fighting to lead their party in November and reversing two decades of Republican rule in Tallahassee, the four Democratic candidates for governor in Florida spoke in Tampa on Saturday night in front of several hundred members of the Hillsborough County Democratic Party. Philip Levine, Gwen Graham, Andrew Gillum and Chis King all gave their relatively… Read more »
Alan Grayson will soon be announcing his comeback for a seat in the U.S. Congress, though what district in Florida he’ll be representing is still unknown. The Orlando-area firebrand, who was defeated in his last race for the Democratic nomination for Senate in 2016, has been steadily raising money for over a year now in… Read more »
Ross Spano has jettisoned his quest to become Florida’s next attorney general, and announced on Monday that he will now run for the now open congressional seat in Florida’s 15th District. “After careful consideration, prayer and much discussion with my family, I have decided to withdraw from the race for Florida’s Attorney General to run… Read more »
Speaking at the Kimmins Contracting Corporation in Ybor City on Friday, GOP gubernatorial candidate Adam Putnam pumped up the Trump tax reform plan, and boasted that Florida is a low-tax state. The Putnam campaign had touted to reporters that the candidate would be making a “tax-related announcement”, but there was nothing new in his championing of… Read more »
Windy March is the Dean of political reporters in the Tampa Bay area. Full stop. He toiled for the late Tampa Tribune for 30 years (1984-2014), the last 20 as the chief political reporter. Since then he’s become a weekly columnist and contributor on Hillsborough County politics for the Tampa Bay Times. On the program,… Read more »
Although the next mayor of Tampa may not be known for more than a year, Ed Turanchik is sure off to a swift start. The 62-year-old attorney and civic activist has already raised over $100,000 since entering the race in late January (including more than $41,000 in his political action committee), and had a crowd… Read more »
Radioactivity 3 22 18 Good morning, welcome to Radioactivity. I’m Rob Lorei. Coming up— We’ll meet veteran community organizer Heather Booth— who took part in the Civil Rights movement, she was an early a feminist leader and is considered to be one of the country’s most effective progressive organizers. She’s the subject of a new… Read more »
Scott entering the race for Senate may jeopardize Florida Supreme Court picks TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida Gov. Rick Scott may have to resign early if he goes ahead with an anticipated run for the U.S. Senate. But thanks to a little-noticed change approved this month by state legislators, Scott may be able to wait… Read more »
“When the founders wrote, ‘We the People’ they really meant ‘We the White, Wealthy Men.’ Despite much lofty rhetoric, all men were not created equal and women didn’t count at all” You are just four pages in and Elaine Weiss makes clear her superb new book The Woman’s Hour has an unabashed bias, and, deservedly… Read more »
There is one possible amendment up for consideration by the Florida Constitutional Revision Commission that would ban all fossil fuel drilling in Florida waters; our guest in the studio was Jaclyn Lopez, Florida director of the Center For Biological Diversity. The Constitutional Revision Commission is formed every 20 years and its members are mostly picked by… Read more »
District 72 in Sarasota turned blue Tuesday night as Margaret Good was elected to Florida’s House of Representatives. The district, which had voted for Donald Trump in 2016 (50.2% vs 45.6% Clinton), had 36% of it’s registered voters casting votes, which is high for a special election in Florida. According to the Sarasota Herald Tribune, … Read more »
Midterm elections usually bring about a number of ‘retirements’ from Congress. Some are running for other seats. According to Roll Call, a non-partisan Congressional newspaper, usually about 22 representatives don’t run for reelection during the midterms. This year the number is 49 (out of 435). Ten of them are running for the Senate, and nine… Read more »
Radioactivity 1 30 18 Fear of immigrants. It’s been at the center of President Trump’s call to build a wall across the US border with Mexico. And at the center of his attacks on so called Sanctuary cities. And it’s entered into the debate over the future of the so called Dreamers—young who were brought… Read more »
There’s been a lot of focus on Donald Trump voters, especially in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan – bellwether states that in recent times have been Democratic strongholds during presidential elections, but which stunningly flipped in 2016 to give Trump the Electoral College victory for president over Hillary Clinton. No one has… Read more »
On a bright Florida winter day, over 5,000 people came to downtown St. Petersburg to send messages to political leaders, community leaders, and each other. Messages were funny, heartfelt, empowering, topical, optimistic, and inspiring. Here we have a sample, in no particular order. Clicking on the pictures makes them easier to scroll through.
Laura Keane is an author, and owner of Classical Medicine in St. Petersburg. This is a previously published account of the aftermath of the Women’s March last year. There will be a Women’s Day of Action in St. Petersburg on the one year anniversary of the largest demonstration in US history. There is more information… Read more »
Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine is one of four major Democrats running for the party’s gubernatorial nomination this August. During his appearance on MidPoint on Thursday, he doubled down on what the Gwen Graham campaign believed was an attack on their candidate when he said this week that “I’ve actually done something with my life… Read more »
Radioactivity 1 10 18 Welcome to Radioactivity. I’m Rob Lorei. Coming up—how well is the state of Florida doing when it comes to protecting the environment? How are average workers doing? Is the state creating good paying jobs? How well are we educating children? Providing health care for those who need it? We’ll hear from… Read more »
Here in Florida, on the steps of City Hall in Saint Petersburg, Rick Kriseman was officially sworn in for his second term as mayor today. A sea of woolen jackets, scarves and head coverings adorned the nearly 300 citizens and government employees who were on hand. The unseasonably frigid weather didn’t hinder the festivities nor… Read more »
Two adjacent news stories from the Associated Press pretty much told us all we needed to know about how this year has gone. First, we bring to you the world as we know it: Democrat Jones officially declared winner over Roy Moore By KIM CHANDLER, Associated Press MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Democrat Doug Jones’ historic victory… Read more »
A November 2017 Gallup Poll asked voters: In politics, as of today, do you consider yourself a Republican, a Democrat or an independent? The answers have been statistically steady for years, and they have a big impact in states like Florida. Generally across the USA, 4 out of every 10 registered voters describes themself as… Read more »
