Primary preview
There are a lot of congressional races coming up in Florida like school board elections, judicial races and a big race for the state attorney general in Hillsborough County.
WUSF political reporter, Steve Newborn, says some of the races he has his eye on are the Congressional District 13 race with Anna Paulina Luna (R), where one of the big names she’s up against is Whitney Fox, a former communications specialist for the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority. While Luna has gained the support of former President Donald Trump, Fox has raised the most money of any Democrat in this race.
Another race is the one over in District 15. Laurel Lee will face numerous opponents before the winner of that race runs against the current Hillsborough County commissioner, Pat Kemp (D).
When it comes to school board races, Newborn says this may be the last time everyone gets a chance to vote in the primaries for these races.
“There's a constitutional amendment on the ballot in November. It's Amendment One that will make the school board races partisan. Right now, they're nonpartisan, meaning everybody could vote in the primary,” he said. “If it passes in November, what this would do is make it so only Republicans can vote for the Republican candidate, and only Democrats can vote for the Democratic candidate. If you're no party affiliation, or independent, you'd basically be out of luck during the primaries.”
As far as voting by mail, Newborn says state lawmakers passed a law recently that makes you have to re-register to vote by mail every two years.
“If you did it last year, during the local elections, you're good. But if you voted in the 2022 elections, you have to re-register to get that early mail ballot in.”
To request a mail-in ballot, contact your local supervisor of elections office. The deadline for requesting a ballot is Aug. 8.
Newborn says the number of places where you can drop your mail-in ballot off has decreased in a lot of places as well, so be sure to check with your supervisor of elections before dropping your ballot off.
Finally, Newborn says a hospital board race at Sarasota Memorial Hospital is really gaining traction.
“It's as a result of COVID and the vaccine mandates that came down, and the closing of schools, the closing of hospitals, and that sort of thing. A lot of very right-wing Republicans are going for this board (because) they oppose vaccine mandates.”
Look out for WUSF’s Voting Guide, coming this Thursday. And for more information on voting and everything you need to know, visit WUSF.org/vote2024.
Florida Senate race
A red wave swept through Florida during the midterm elections in 2022. That’s also when the state commissioner of agriculture, Nikki Fried, a Democrat, stepped down to run for governor.
Since, no Democrat has held statewide office.
Debbie Mucarsel-Powell is one of the four Democrats vying to challenge incumbent Rick Scott. She has little name recognition beyond South Florida where she served in Congress from 2019 to 2021. Scott’s profile is much larger, as he served two terms as a Republican governor before he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2018.
But Mucarsel-Powell is using her personal, lived experience to connect with voters. She’s passionate about issues like reproductive rights for women and gun control.
“I lost my father to gun violence when I was 24. It’s an issue that has been very much at the center of a lot of the work that I’ve done. And it’s one of the reasons why I ran for Congress in 2018,” Mucarsel-Powell said.
As a Latina, she says this issue is important to her because she recognizes that many Latinos are fleeing violence and in search of better economic opportunities, like her own mother who brought Mucarsel-Powell to America from Ecuador when she was 14.
“This is not about taking away anybody’s rights,” she said. “It’s about passing laws that will protect our children so that people with violent, criminal backgrounds don’t have access to weapons. We need to start somewhere.”
When asked about how she plans to connect with Republican Latino voters, Mucarsel-Powell says many Latinos still vote 2-to-1 for Democrats.
“Why? Because we’re going to protect equal opportunities.”
Listen to the full conversation above on the media player.
