RSS Feed of the blog

Contributors:

Reporter William March has covered state and national politics since 1994. Email

Reporter Mike Salinero has covered Hillsborough County government for The Tampa Tribune since 2007. Email

Reporter Lindsay Peterson has been a general assignment reporter at the Tampa Tribune since 2005, focusing on higher education since 2009. Email

TBO RNC 2012 Section

Florida Political Blogs:

• State Of Sunshine
• Pushing Rope
• Interstate4Jamming
• News Service of Florida
• FLA Politics
• Sayfie Review/

News Blog Search

Advanced Search

Most Recent Entries

• How come the poll results don’t match?
• Q Poll: Mack has long lead in primary, ties Nelson in general matchup
• Mack campaign retracts Fortuno endorsement quotes
• Coburn backs LeMieux, answering Mack’s Fortuno
• Q Poll: Romney has significant lead in Florida
• Storm The Swarm: SOCCENT deputy chief asks for technology to stop threat of Iranian small boats
• Nelson disses Obama on Castro daughter
• Hoyer to campaign with Ehrlich
• Mack dumbest speaker in Congress?  It’s complicated
• Guetzloe sentenced for not filing tax returns
• Mack asks feds to investigate LeMieux appointment
• Pentagon Reports Deaths of 7 Troops This Week in Support of Operation Enduring Freedom
• Mack demands investigation of LeMieux appointment
• Ross backs Mack
• LeMieux wins East Hillsborough GOP straw poll

More

• Breaking News
• Command Post Tampa
• Fact Finders - Databay Blog
• Guestbook: Remembering The Fallen Soldiers
• Fresh Squeezed Politics
• RNC 2012: The Road to Tampa
• Political Safari

Monthly Archives

• May 2012
• April 2012
• March 2012
• February 2012
• January 2012
• December 2011

Argenziano says she’ll run for Congress as a Democrat

Posted Aug 1, 2011 by William March

Updated Aug 1, 2011 at 05:07 PM

Former Republican state senator and Public Service Commission Chairman Nancy Argenziano, long a maverick in the GOP, says she’s changing parties to run for Congress as a Democrat.

Argenziano said in an interview today she’ll seek the seat current held by Republican Steve Southerland, who unseated veteran Democrat Allen Boyd of Monticello in 2011.

“The Republican Party left me,” said Argenziano, who has a long history of bucking the GOP with stands for environmental and consumer protection and against what she says is excessive corporate influence.

Formerly from Crystal River, Argenziano said she has lived full time in Tallahassee for several years.

Former Gov. Charlie Crist appointed her to the Public Service Commission, but in 2010, a nominating council controlled by the state Legislature, dominated by conservative Republicans who clashed with Crist, refused to nominate her for a second term. She resigned and announced she would work for Democratic nominee Alex Sink, who lost to Rick Scott in the governor’s race.

What “tipped the tables” for her was a recent congressional vote to weaken federal water pollution standards, she said. The legislation, passed by the House with Southerland voting in favor, would prevent federal environmental regulators from tightening pollutant limits or banning discharges without the state’s consent.

‘I’m the water lady—that’s what started my political career,” said Argenziano, who was heavily involved as a legislator in water use controversies in the northern Tampa Bay area. “You can be conservative and still respect the earth, the one place we have to live on.”

Democratic Party Chairman Rod Smith, a long-time friend of Boyd, said he welcomes Argenziano to the party and doesn’t think Boyd intended to run again.

Boyd couldn’t be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon.

“The GOP dominated by the Tea Party is not the party many have joined and served for many years,” Smith said.

Asked whether she could succeed in a Democratic primary, he said, “She’d be a good candidate—once (Democratic voters) got to know her message and experience and background she would be formidable.”

Argenziano does have at least one minor problem to solve, however—in the interview, she twice referred to “the Democrat Party,” a term used slightingly by Republicans instead of “Democratic Party,” the correct name.