Jul 15, 2021 - Politics

Inside political titan and Tampa's first lady Ana Cruz's daily tech routine

Ana Cruz is a force. She spent the past two decades influencing politics from D.C. to Tampa, with clients as big as Hillary Clinton.

Now the head of Ballard Partners' local office, she's also an avid fisher and art collector, and lives in Tampa with her partner, Mayor Jane Castor.

How does Tampa's badass first lady interact with tech? We asked Cruz about her habits.

Device of choice: MacBook Pro.
First tap of the day: "My snooze button. Followed by Vox's Today Explained."
Go-to news source: "I start my day with Peter Schorsch at Florida Politics; Matt Dixon, Ursula Perano and Marc Caputo at Politico; and (all ass-kissing aside) Selene San Felice and Ben Montgomery at Axios."

"That gives me a good grounding of what’s happening in politics, with a particular eye towards Florida."
"I think the most exciting reporter in Florida right now is Julie Brown at the Miami Herald. Her relentless investigative work around [Jeffrey] Epstein has been and will continue to be groundbreaking."

On rotation: "I am so stuck in the '80s and '90s. From Run-DMC to Whitney, Madonna to New Edition, and the essential artists that filled my house growing up: Marvin Gaye, Luther Vandross, Earl Klugh, and Anita Baker. I am without a doubt an R&B girl."
Reading list: "My inbox (literally), and I just started reading 'Milk Blood Heat,' a killer debut book of short stories, all based in Florida by Dantiel W. Moniz."
Most-used app: Robinhood and Zillow.

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