Political Note #59 Bill Nelson FL US Senate

Post published:September 3, 2017
Post category:Federal Elections General Election Lt. Governor US Senate Lose 2018 Year Result State Type of Election Political Notes Florida

Bill Nelson went to the University of Florida where he became a member of Blue Key. He left for Yale and the University of Virginia Law School. In 1965 he came back to Florida and joined the US Army Reserve. After his widowed mother died, he went on active duty as a pilot. Notwithstanding his political successes, being elected to Congress and the Senate, there was nothing he loved more than flying. His greatest political commitment was to the US space program.

Political Note #53 Annette Taddeo FL SD 40

Post published:August 13, 2017
Post category:Win General Election State Elections 2018 State Senate Year 2017 Result State Special Election Type of Election Political Notes Florida

Annette Taddeo was born on an American military base in Colombia. She is the daughter of an American World War II and Korean War fighter pilot and a Colombian mother. At age seventeen, Annette Taddeo immigrated to the US on her own. She put herself through college on her own. She married psychologist Eric Goldstein, converted to Judaism, and has a family of his two children and one child of theirs. She founded LanguageSpeak, a language services company that offers translations in over 240 languages. Diversity Business describes LanguageSpeak as one of the top 100 small businesses in Florida and one of the top 500 Hispanic owned businesses in the United States. She has been a power in the Democratic Party. Chair of the Miami Democrats, she helped create Hispanic Democratic Clubs and initiated candidate recruitment in south Florida toward the goal of gaining seats in the Florida legislature. In 2013, the Democratic National Committee appointed her to leadership positions.

Political Note #49 Nancy Soderberg FL CD 06

Post published:July 31, 2017
Post category:General Election Federal Elections Lose US Congress 2018 Year US Congress 2018 State Type of Election Political Notes Florida

If resumes count, Nancy Soderberg would be elected to anything she ran for. She is CEO of Soderberg Global Solutions and Director of the Public Service Leadership Program at the University of North Florida.Soderberg is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a regular commentator on national and international television and radio. She is the author of numerous articles and two books on American foreign policy. She was Deputy National Security Advisor to President Clinton, senior advisor to Senator Edward Kennedy. President Obama appointed her as Chair of the Public Interest Declassification Board (2011-2014). She has also served as President of Connect U.S. Fund, as Vice President of the International Crisis Group, and on the Board of the Jacksonville Port Authority.

Political Note #24 Stephanie Dang Murphy FL CD 07

Post published:May 8, 2017
Post category:Federal Elections Win General Election 2018 US Congress Result State US Congress 2018 Type of Election Political Notes Florida

Stephanie Dang Murphy has a BA from William and Mary and a Master's Degree from Georgetown. She had been a Department of Defense national security analyst and earned a medal for exceptional service after the 9/11 attack. She was the managing director of Sungate Capital, an investment and consulting firm. Her story is longer than that, though. Stephanie Dang Murphy was born in Ho Chi Minh City. Her parents were refugees who escaped from Vietnam by boat when she was an infant. They lived in refugee camps until they were able to come to the United States. She remembers her mother cleaning office buildings and banks at night, bringing her and her brother to work while she cleaned.