Episode 228: John "Captain" Phillips, Florida State House Candidate

John "Captain" Phillips is a recently-retired Coast Guard CWO4 with more than three decades of service. He is challenging Rep. Bill Conerly in the Republican primary for the Florida House of Representatives District 72 seat, representing much of Manatee County. He joins Mitch and Dawn to discuss his grassroots campaign and the need for smart, sustainable growth policies that protect rural Florida.

This week, Tony Barrett, a candidate in the Republican primary for the Manatee County Commission District 6 at-large seat, joins Mitch & Dawn for a broad-ranging discussion on issues facing our community, including overdevelopment, infrastructure, environmental concerns, public safety, and how his time as a first responder and then real estate broker informs his positions.

Glenn Gibellina is challenging incumbent District 4 Manatee County Commissioner Mike Rahn in this year's Republican primary. Glenn joins TBT Editor in Chief Mitch Maley to share his thoughts about how our local government can become more responsive to the will of its community.

Manatee County Commission District 2 candidate Ed Bailey joins TBT's Mitch Maley and Dawn Kitterman to discuss his campaign, why he wants to serve on the board, and what issues he's most passionate about addressing.

This week, Mitch and Dawn discuss the passing of Manatee County Commissioner Carol Ann Felts, the upcoming elections, Senator Jim Boyd's amendment regarding a cruise terminal, and the President's State of the Union address.

Nathan J. Robinson is a graduate of Sarasota's Pineview School and editor and political columnist for Current Affairs magazine. His work has been featured in such publications as The Guardian, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Republic, The Nation, Al Jazeera America, and Salon. Nathan will be the featured speaker at WLSR's Rooted in Community event on February 28, the station's annual night in support of independent, nonprofit media. He joins TBT's Mitch Maley for a conversation on modern media, economic inequality, and issues facing the Democratic opposition as the party heads into the midterms.

You can learn more about Jon and his campaign at jonharrisforcongress.com

Mitch and Dawn discuss the evolving field of candidates for the Manatee County Commission, Manatee School Board, the District 71 and 72 Florida House races, and the District 16 Congressional seat.

Manatee County Commission Chair Tal Siddique joins TBT's Mitch Maley to discuss local issues, including preemption efforts by the state legislature, the effort to change the structure of Seaport Manatee, a proposed cruise ship hub nearby, development/infrastructure challenges, and pushback from animal activists on the pre-fab kennels the county is using at Bishop Animal Shelter.

Seeking Rents, the SubStack focused on state-level politics in Florida, which is mentioned in the show, can be found at https://jasongarcia.substack.com/.