Michael Kruse is a senior staff writer at POLITICO. Prior to joining POLITICO, he was on the enterprise team at the Tampa Bay Times, where he won the Paul Hansell Award for Distinguished Achievement in Florida Journalism and the American Society of News Editors’ distinguished non-deadline writing award. He’s also contributed to ESPN’s Grantland, SB Nation Longform and Outside magazine. A graduate of Davidson College in North Carolina, he lives in Arlington, Virginia, with his family.