Bill Clinton Raises Money In Tallahassee
By Lynn Hatter • 2 hours ago

Tallahassee may be a lucrative stop for the Clintons. The campaigns biggest surrogate, former President Bill Clinton spoke to Democrats at the home of Florida Party chairwoman Allison Tant.

The fundraiser was closed to reporters and attendees were instructed not to record. Prices ranged from $500 per person to $2,700. That's the maximum campaign donation amount.

According to the Tampa Bay Times, the event drew about 200 people including outgoing Tallahassee Representative Alan Williams and former representative Loranne Ausley, who is trying to get her old seat back. Mayor Andrew Gillum was also on-hand, he’s campaigned for Hilary Clinton in other states.

It’s the third time this year a Clinton has come to Tallahassee. The former President addressed a crowd at Florida A&M University in March. Chelsea Clinton held court with a group of supporters that same month.

http://news.wfsu.org/post/bill-clinton-raises-money-tallahassee

Highlights

U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham won’t seek re-election after redistricting

The Tallahassee Democrat is considering a bid for governor in 2018

She is the daughter of former governor and U.S. Senator Bob Graham


By Amy Sherman and Mary Ellen Klas
April 21, 2016 12:10 PM

U.S. Rep Gwen Graham put an end to speculation Thursday and announced that she won't seek reelection to Congress but is considering seeking the Democratic nomination for governor in 2018.

Graham of Tallahassee, who is in her first term in Congress, faced a tough reelection after her district was reconfigured to be less favorable for Democrats under a court-ordered redistricting plan.

"State government is just dysfunctional and this causes me to rethink how I can best serve the people of North Florida and our state. Floridians are hungry for new leadership and I’m so excited to tell you first I’m seriously considering running for governor in 2018," Graham said in a news release and video. She said the new map divided her district into "two partisan districts" and she promises to bring "common sense back to Tallahassee."

Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican, is term-limited so he can't run for reelection. Republicans considering the 2018 race include Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, whose political action committee raised more than $4 million in one year. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio has also been rumored to be considering seeking the nomination, although he denied that a couple days after he lost the Florida presidential primary.

More: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article73065412.html

Court rejects bid to throw out Florida congressional map
Bill Cotterell, Democrat correspondent 10:37 p.m. EDT April 18, 2016

A three-judge federal panel late Monday rejected U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown’s challenge to Florida’s new congressional district map, which splits Leon County between a heavily black region and a new Republican-leaning tract.

Aside from making Brown, a Jacksonville Democrat who has been in Congress since 1992, run in new territory across North Florida, the ruling poses a political quandary for first-term Rep. Gwen Graham of Tallahassee. She has been collecting campaign funds and working toward re-election in recent months, but the new map casts her into a conservative district that extends from Panama City around the Gulf Coast to western Marion County.

“I’m disappointed the Second Congressional District will be transformed from a fair, moderate district into two extreme partisan districts,” Graham said in a prepared statement issued from her office. “Dividing Tallahassee hurts North Florida and our community.
http://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/politics/2016/04/18/court-rejects-bid-throw-out-florida-congressional-map/83209764/