Advertisement

Winner/loser of the week in Florida politics: March 17 edition

So really, what’s the deal with Port Richey?
 
Pete (left), Repeat. [Pasco County Sheriff's Office]
Pete (left), Repeat. [Pasco County Sheriff's Office]
Published March 17, 2019

Winner

Ron DeSantis: Florida’s new governor gave the Legislature a Friday deadline to pass a bill that allowed smokable medical marijuana, and wouldn’t you know it, both chambers somehow agreed to do it in time. The winning streak continues for DeSantis and the public is noticing. In a poll released last week by Quinnipiac University, 59 percent of Floridians, including 42 percent of Democrats, gave DeSantis high marks. That places the 40-year-old governor above most of his peers across the country and makes him the most popular in Florida in 10 years. Fueling his popularity, according to the poll? His support for popular bipartisan issues like pardoning the Groveland Four and smokable medical marijuana.

Loser

Port Richey: Okay, okay, we just picked the mayor of this tiny Pasco County city as a loser last month. But c’mon. We couldn’t resist returning to the well. After Dale Massad, who was then Port Richey’s mayor, was arrested last month and charged with practicing medicine without a license and attempted murder, he was replaced by Terrence Rowe — who then gets arrested last week for allegedly conspiring with Massad to intimidate a Port Richey police officer. And they planned the entire scheme at the county jail. Unless Rowe resigns, he will remain mayor. But the City Council plans to consult with its attorney to decide what’s next. “All I can say is, ‘Wow,’” said one city council member. We agree.