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

Is Pelosi’s Team Backing Dicks To Emerge As Bilirakis Opponent?

Posted Jun 19, 2008 by Billy House, Tribune Washington Bureau

Updated Jun 19, 2008 at 03:17 PM

WASHINGTON – Have Democrats in Washington identified former Plant City Mayor John Dicks as the candidate they want to face-off against freshman GOP Rep. Gus Bilirakis this fall?

They insist not, continuing to claim neutrality regarding Dicks and his 9th Congressional District primary rivals, Bill Mitchell of Carrollwood and Anita de Palma of Clearwater.

Yet, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee – which oversees Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s nationwide strategy to put more House seats in the Democratic column—is acting otherwise.

This week, the DCCC announced what it called “20 emerging races in the country.”

The announcement explains: “In each of these races, Democratic candidates have generated excitement in their districts for their campaigns of change.”

It specifically list Dicks as among those 20 Democratic hopefuls from across the nation.

Neither of Dicks’ two primary foes, Mitchell and de Palma are mentioned.

The DCCC’s action was seized upon by Dicks’ campaign. “Although the Primary for Florida’s 9th district includes 3 contenders, Dicks was the only candidate featured in today’s announcement,” it boasted in a press release.

The Mitchell camp reacted with surprise, but says it is not deterred.

Mitchell’s campaign manager, Anne Drake said Mitchell has been campaigning aggressively throughout the district with positive response, and will hold a fundraising reception next Thursday (June 26) in Tampa.

When it comes to the Aug. 26 primary, she said support among local voters is what counts.

“We don’t think any poll numbers show his (Dicks) name recognition is any better,” she said. “This is not a done deal.”

De Palma could not immediately be reached.

The DCCC usually remains neutral in primaries between Democrats running for Congress. And that hasn’t changed with regard to Dicks, Mitchell and de Palma,  said Kyra Jennings, the Southern regional press secretary for the committee. “

“We have not endorsed him,” she said of Dicks.

At the same time, Jennings said Dicks is viewed as a “strong candidate” to run against Bilirakis, and the DCCC believed that he deserved mentioning in the announcement this week.