The fifth win by a candidate endorsed by a Lakeland-centered political action committee illustrates a new model for winning city campaigns: more focused, more professional and much more expensive. More
Chad McLeod says the key to victory in his recent race for a Lakeland City Commission seat was one-on-one engagement with voters. He talked about lessons learned during the campaign in the 100th episode of the “PR and Politics” podcast he co-hosts with his brother and business partner, Joe McLeod. More
Though the primary is eight months away, the two Democrats who hope to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. Ross Spano are already sniping at one another. Adam Cohn portrays Adam Hattersley as a politician who has done little but try to advance to higher office. Hattersley says that as a former TV reporter, all Cohn does is talk. Bay News 9’s Mitch Perry reports.
A battle is brewing among two Democrats wanting the party’s nod to run against Republican incumbent Ross Spano for the congressional seat that represents much of Lakeland. Alan Cohn and Adam Hattersley, both from the Hillsborough side of the district, are getting big-name endorsements — including former U.S. Sen. Bob Graham and former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham for Cohn and U.S. Rep. Stephanie Murphy of Winter Park for Hattersley.
A bill by state Sen. Kelli Stargel, R-Lakeland, requiring parents to consent to minors’ abortions passed the Senate Health Policy Committee today 6-3 in a party-line vote.
Former state Rep. Beverly Burnsed Spencer, who represented a Lakeland district, died Nov. 28 in Tallahassee. She was 78. She spent 35 years working for the state as a teacher, state legislator, assistant secretary of state and university vice president. More
Chad McLeod will be the newest Lakeland city commissioner, elected today with 55% of the vote to 45% for Carole Philipson in a low-key runoff election held just after a long Thanksgiving holiday weekend. More
The campaign finances of U.S. Rep. Ross Spano of Dover, whose district includes most of Lakeland, are apparently under criminal investigation by the Department of Justice. The House Ethics Committee said today it is deferring its own investigation at the request of the DOJ. A statement from Spano said he is cooperating with the investigation and that the probe was motivated by “the left.”
ALSO: Coverage by Politico
UPDATED 9:11 p.m. — Bill Read was re-elected to the Lakeland City Commission today, but it will take a Dec. 3 runoff to determine the victor in the other commission race on the ballot. Top vote-getters Chad McLeod and Carole Philipson face each other in a runoff because no candidate won a majority in their four-way contest. More
