St. Pete voters and other political junkies: It just got a lot easier to track all of our CL and PoHo coverage of the St. Petersburg mayoral race with our new widget. Just click on a candidate’s mug to get a listing of stories and podcasts about them. The St. Petersburg Mayor’s Race widget also lives full-time on our News & Politics section front.
UPDATE: We have 10 candidates for mayor, as Alex Haak didn’t qualify. They are Deveron Gibbons, Kathleen Ford, Bill Foster, Scott Wagman, Larry Williams, Jamie Bennett, John Warren, Richard Eldridge, Ed Helm and Paul Congemi. The primary election to determine the two finalists is Sept. 1.
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Today is the last day to file all the necessary paperwork to run for St. Petersburg mayor or city council, a day called Qualifying Day. We’ll know who is in and who is out by 5 pm.
A last-minute entry into the field, however, is entrepreneur, preservationist and restaurateur John Warren, 59, who owns Savannah’s Cafe on Central Avenue in St. Petersburg.
Warren, who has been frustrated by the city’s inability to help small businesses and truly grow its downtown in a sensible fashion, told supporters in an e-mail that he knows he is getting in late but doesn’t hear the issues he thinks ought to be disucssed.
“I don’t believe current candidates are addressing the issues that need to be discussed, nor do I feel they have the vision or experiences to deal with today’s challenges. Apparently many of you agree,” Warren wrote.
He also hints that he will get rid of controversial police Chief Chuck Harmon if the SPPD can’t start battling crime more effectively.
Here is his e-mail to supporters: Read the rest of this entry »
Sarah Palin was just the start, if Andrew Breitbart’s commentary in the Washington Times is any indication:
The future of the Grand Old Party needs to be dangerously youthful, devastatingly attractive and outrageously fun.
Throw the liberal baby boomer bums out. And let’s elect to higher office some good-looking, freedom-loving Net Generation babes. Face it: Democracy needs a face-lift and a youth movement. (I’m from Los Angeles, what can I tell you?)
Sounds like a night clubbing in downtown St. Pete.
I hate to tell Breitbart, but TMZ already beat him to this brilliant deduction.
This Michigan county commissioner, Carey Torrice, has a back-story that is a poiltical consultant’s wet dream:
I have been a resident of Macomb County my whole life. I graduated from Chippewa Valley High School. I also have a degree from Macomb Community College. I have a very supportive family, whose morals, religious and political views have shaped my ambitions to be active in community events. My Wonderful husband is a Macomb County business owner. My Father USMC Sergeant Larry DeJaeghere was a Vietnam Veteran. He was laid to rest in 2005 at Arlington National Cemetery. My Mother was a spokesperson and survivor for Ovarian Cancer awareness for over 20 years. She passed away in 2007, but has inspired me to carry on her message. My father-in-law has been a doctor in Macomb County for almost 40 years. My mother-in-law is a public schools teacher.
Only one problem; She’s a D. (As in Democrat.)
