RSS Feed of the blog

Contributors:

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

Reporter Christian M. Wade has covered the City of Tampa since 2008. 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

Tribune Politics Coverage

Florida Political Blogs:

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

More Resources:

• TBO.com Home Page
• TBO.com Politics
• TBO.com News Updates
• Live Traffic Updates
• TBO.com Communities

Most Recent Entries

• Nelson: Obama birth control compromise “seems to solve the problem”
• Sharpe suspending campaign
• Sharpe to make announcement, may be out of House race
• Largo Military Museum Gets New Name, Mission
• Planned Parenthood: Polls show Catholics, voters favor contraception coverage
• Weatherford denies any attempt to undermine West
• Michelle Obama to tour Florida for healthy eating
• Pentagon Co-Spokesman Changed Trim After Boss’ Haircuts
• Brig. Gen. Becomes Highest-Ranking Death in Afghanistan
• Special Operations Command To Go Para-Commando Over University of Tampa
• Air Force To Cut Nearly 300 Planes, But None From MacDill
• POTUS Veterans Job Act: Billions To Hire Vets As Law Enforcement, First Reponders, Park Workers
• Will Israel Really Strike Iran? SECDEF Won’t Comment On Ignatius Assertion
• College Scholarship Available To a Lucky Family At MacDIll
• CENTCOM Boss Meets with New Pakistan Ambassador

More

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

Monthly Archives

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

Iorio, Ex-Gov. Bush Won’t Rule Out 2010 Senate Race

Posted Dec 2, 2008 by William March

Updated Dec 2, 2008 at 02:17 PM

In an interview this morning, Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio didn’t rule out considering a run for the Senate seat being vacated by Republican Sen. Mel Martinez. Former Gov. Jeb Bush, through a spokesman, took a similar approach.

“It’s never a good idea to totally rule something out in politics, so I won’t do that,” Iorio said. “But as of today, I have not made any plans to run for that seat.”

She said the seat is “very winnable for a Democrat. A good, solid candidate would have a great shot at an open seat, given today’s political environment.”

Iorio faces a term limit at the end of her second term as mayor in 2011. Though she doesn’t have a well-known name statewide, Iorio’s Tampa Bay area base would be considered an important asset in a statewide race.

A Bush spokeswoman, meanwhile, says the former governor “has not given serious consideration to running for the U.S. Senate, or any other office at this point. He remains focused on the important policy issues facing our country in these challenging times, chiefly education reform.”

In the written statement, the spokesman says Bush “hopes to play a constructive role in the future of the party, advocating ideas and policies to get the conservative cause back on track.”

Bush likely would be the frontrunner for the GOP nomination for the seat if he entered the race but has said he has no interest in running for the Senate.

Martinez announced this morning that he won’t seek re-election to the seat in 2010.