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The Primary Election Went Smoothly…Concerns for General Remain

September 6th, 2018 by Jake Stofan
The State Elections Canvasing Commission confirmed the results of the 2018 primary election Thursday morning.
Secretary of State Ken Detzner says last week’s election went off without a hitch.
“We had a very good election. We had no problems with cyber security,” said Detzner.
Detzner says despite a smooth Primary, election’s officials aren’t ruling out the potential for Russian election interference in November.
“Nobody is overconfident. We are working hard making sure all of our systems are working,” aid Detzner.
Complicating election planning are a number of ongoing lawsuits that could affect what voters see on their General Election ballots.
Most are challenging constitutional amendments, but what elections supervisors fear most is a Federal lawsuit demanding bilingual ballots in 32 counties.
“The whole concerns about Russians hacking our elections… There’s going to be enough chaos created by trying to have these counties have bilingual ballots right now,” said Leon County Supervisor of Elections Mark Earley.
Elections Supervisors say it would be impossible to print ballots in Spanish before the first mail ballots go out September 22nd.
In a hearing Wednesday, Judge Mark Walker seemed to agree providing bilingual ballots by November was unrealistic, but also suggested the state has been ignoring federal law for years by not providing Spanish language ballots to Puerto Ricans living in the state.
Detzner declined to comment on the case.
“It would be very inappropriate for the Secretary of State to comment on something that the judge is considering at this time,” said Detzner.
A ruling in the bilingual ballot case is expected by the end of the week.
The State Supreme Court has yet to make the final ruling on any of the challenges to the constitutional amendments.

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Federal Judge Considers Suit to Require Bilingual Ballots in 32 Counties

September 5th, 2018 by Jake Stofan
Should ballots be bi-lingual?
That’s the question before a Federal judge in the state’s capital city.
The Federal suit against the state was brought after Hurricane Maria when a large population of Puerto Rican’s moved to the state.
It was filed by a coalition of civil rights groups.
They argue the state must provide Spanish voting materials and bi-lingual ballots in 32 counties under the Federal Voting Rights Act.
Leon County Supervisor of Elections Mark Early began providing a number of voting resources in Spanish after he was contacted by the coalition this past April.
“We had one person request assistance voting in Spanish. You know out of 206,000 voters. 76,000 that voted,” said Early.
And despite Early’s efforts the coalition wasn’t satisfied with the progress because Leon County doesn’t provide bilingual ballots.
Supervisors say it’s impossible to implement everything asked for in the suit in time for the election.
“We have to do the database work first and then we generate the ballots  and send them out,” said Early. “We have to be able to test them before we mail them out. So that September 22nd deadline just 17 days away is a hard fast deadline for every bit of this as far as bi-lingual ballots go.”

Judge Mark Walker seemed to agree the deadline couldn’t be met, but also suggested the state has ignored Federal law for years by not providing the materials to Puerto Ricans in the state.

Walker noted previous court rulings have interpreted the Voting Rights Act to guarantee Puerto Ricans Spanish ballots because they are taught Spanish in U.S. Schools.
“That’s the lesser of the debates right now,” said Early. “The primary debate I think right now is what is possible for supervisors to put in place for the current election cycle.”
A ruling is expected to come quickly.
Based on what the judge said from the bench, neither side is likely to be completely happy with the ruling.
Currently 14 counties provide bilingual ballots.
13 of those are required to do so by Federal law because of their high Spanish speaking populations.

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Gubernatorial Campaigns Spent Twice as Much Out of State as in State

September 5th, 2018 by Mike Vasilinda
Campaign finance records show the seven major contenders in last week’s gubernatorial primary spent a total of just over $127 million.
The candidates spent more than two dollars out of state for every dollar they spent in Florida.
During the primary, Gubernatorial candidates talked up Florida.
“I love Florida. I grew up in Florida. I got married in Florida,” Chris King said in a television ad.
But not enough to spend their money here.
Campaign records show the seven major candidates spent over $85 million out of state and just $41 million here.
“I want to be around the broadcast shows that are likely to have voters, and frequent voters,” said GOP strategist Pete Dunbar. “That would be the morning news programs and things of that nature. Those are all national buys.”
Only Democrat Phil Levine spent big in the state.
He put 24 of his $26 million total in Florida.
He was the only candidate to use home grown television production and media buys.
“Too often people lean on the science than the art,” said democratic strategist Steve Schale. “But it is a mix of the science and the art.”
Schale advised the Gwen Graham Campaign.
He says out of state doesn’t always mean there’s no Florida tie.
“In the business, the people who do well here end up going to DC,” Schale. “And so a lot of the people who do work in Florida that are out of state consultants are also people who have done a lot of work in Florida.”
Dunbar says high level consultants couldn’t make a living on Florida candidates alone.
The candidates also spent about $6 million on direct mail.
That’s enough to send out more than 21 million pieces, or about seven for everyone who voted.
Even though the bulk of TV time was purchased out of state, a lot of the cash went to local Florida stations, minus a 15% buyers commission.
The Candidates spent a total of $40.45 for every vote that was cast last Tuesday.
The total doesn’t include cash spent on behalf or against a candidate by out of state interest groups.

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State Halts Visits to Greyhound Facilities

September 4th, 2018 by Mike Vasilinda

Greyhound breeders and some tracks have been offering Floridians the chance to visit their facilities first hand to learn what they are calling the “truth” about how the animals are being treated.

On Friday the state agency that regulates dog tracks, the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, put the skids on the visits, saying citizens are allowed in restricted areas.

Jack Cory of the Florida Greyhound Association says people are still invited to farms and kennels.

“The only way to get the truth and facts is to come and visit a greyhound kennel or visit a greyhound farm. We have always done that. We have done that for decades,” said Cory. “Now, suddenly last Friday, the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, on a complaint from the advocates on this issue are trying to shut down those visits. That will not work. The farms are gonna be available. We’re not under DBPR, and frankly, we’re going to continue inviting folks to come see the truth and facts at the track”.

Opponents of dog racing have called the visits ‘staged photo opportunities’.

Protect Dogs: Yes on 13 Campaign says it did not file any complaints against the visits with DBPR.

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Gubernatorial Candidates Still Looking for Running Mate With Two Days to Spare

September 4th, 2018 by Jake Stofan
Gubernatorial  nominees Ron DeSantis and Andrew Gillum won a week ago today and they’re already facing a major deadline… who to pick for a running mate.
The deadline for Gubernatorial nominees Ron DeSantis and Andrew Gillum to pick a running mate is 5 pm, Thursday.
“There’s a huge risk and danger here. Now most of these people who have been speculated seem like they have no skeletons to hide, things of that nature, but they could potentially sink a ballot if something is discovered,” said TCC political science professor Dr. Richard Murgo.
DeSantis has already put out a short list of nine possible picks.
They’re mostly state lawmakers.
Political analysts say both candidates are likely to pick a more moderate Lieutenant governor, to even out their more hard line stances.
“This race is really going to come down to independents. So the Lieutenant Governor pick is going to be someone who appeals to that independent crowd,” said FAMU political science professor Dr. Christopher Daniels.
Both candidates are also likely to pick a woman to run with them.
More than half of DeSantis’ short list are women.
So are nearly all of the candidates speculated to be on Gillum’s radar.
“We’ve got two males running so we’ve got to balance that off and they’ve got to bring women to the ballot box,” said Murgo.
Initial speculation surrounding Gillum’s pick pointed to his nearest Primary opponent Gwen Graham.
Gillum told us he wants someone with Legislative experience.
“It is valuable to have had some experience building some relationships across the isle with the Legislature,” said Gillum.
State Senator Lauren Book fits that description and has been rumored to be in the running.
She organized the Parkland March on the Capitol and took on sexual harassment in the Legislature earlier this year.
She also has strong political connections.
Gillum’s campaign hasn’t confirmed any official short list of Lieutenant Governor candidates, saying the first official announcement on the matter will be the final pick.

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Florida Greyhound Racing: A Historical Perspective

September 4th, 2018 by Mike Vasilinda
The fate of an amendment banning Greyhound racing in Florida is in the hands of the state’s seven Supreme Court Justices.
The industry was as controversial a hundred years ago as it is today.
The State Archive’s oldest pictures of dog racing are from 1922, but the sport started a decade before.
In 1927, the State Supreme Court ruled that betting was illegal, but many tracks kept racing anyway.
By 1931, the Legislature voted to legalize and tax greyhound racing.
Then Governor Doyle Carlton was opposed.
Doyle Jr. says his dad told him about an offer gaming interests thought the Governor couldn’t refuse.
“They said, Governor, you know how much your name is worth today? He said not very much. He said it’s worth a hundred thousand dollars if you’ll sign the race track bill. He said well, it my names worth that much to you, it ought to be worth that much to me, so I just believe I’ll keep it. He vetoed the bill,” Doyle Jr. said in an interview archived by the Florida Legislative Museum.
Carlton’s veto was overridden by one vote, on the last day of the 1931 Legislative Session.
“The racing interests from the East had spent several hundred thousand dollars buying legislative votes,” said Doyle Jr.
That hundred thousand dollars offered to the Governor is worth one point six million in today’s dollars.
The tracks say they are losing money on racing dogs, but breeder advocate Jack Cory says no one is losing anything.

“Public Records show that they took in over two hundred million dollars last year. Over eighty million dollars of that was from live greyhound racing,” said Cory.

Since 1931, more than $73 billion has been bet at Florida tracks.

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