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

• Memorial Day weekend deals to honor military, vets
• 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

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

Pro-drilling Dem draws primary challenge

Posted Jun 30, 2009 by Catherine Dolinski

Updated Jun 30, 2009 at 04:21 PM

Leon County Democratic Party Chairman Rick Minor announced today he’s resigning to challenge freshman Democratic Rep. Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda of Tallahassee in a primary for the District 9 state House seat.

Minor, who is pledging to run an eco-friendly campaign, said Rehwinkel Vasilinda’s vote to support offshore oil drilling in Florida waters was “the last straw.”

“There were only two Democrats that voted for that – and she was one of them,” he said. “That had a tremendous impact.”

The other was Rep. Debbie Boyd of Newberry. But Rehwinkel Vasilinda was the only Democrat who spoke – passionately – on the House floor this spring about her decision to vote yes.

“It did have a big impact on my decision,” Minor said. “But there were other things, too.”

The political consultant-turned-candidate noted a few other reasons he is challenging Rehwinkel Vasilinda, such as her opposition to adding the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. “That’s a major component of the Democratic platform.”

Rehwinkel Vasilinda did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.