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Parties Chasing Vote by Mail Ballots

October 31st, 2018 by Mike Vasilinda
This year, Florida sent our just under 3.5 million mail ballots.
As of Wednesday morning, 1.5 million haven’t been cast yet.
Both parties are working overtime to get those ballots filled out and returned.
First, mail encouraging people to ask for a vote by mail ballot went out from both parties shortly after the primary.
It worked and 3,448,000 ballots were requested.
As of Wednesday morning, 44% or just over 1.5 million hadn’t been returned yet.
“When you look at the return rate so far, it’s very low,” said Skyler Zander with Americans for Prosperity. “I mean, there’s a lot of people that can still get out there and still have their mail ballots turned in.”
Under state law, candidates but not the general public, get a list everyday of people who have requested a mail ballot.
They also get a list of those who haven’t returned it.
Those that haven’t voted are getting reminders, and as the election day deadline to return the ballots gets closer,  both parties are ramping up their efforts.
“Because you get that list, you’re able to send out robo calls to ask them to turn in their ballots,” said Leon County GOP Chair Evan Power. “You send email to get them to turn in their ballots. And in the las t case, the last couple days, you send walkers out to go grab the ballots for them or help them get their ballots turned in.”
How important are they?
“You know Florida is always a razor thin state that is  very diverse in many different ways and shapes. So every vote counts. Every ballot matters,” said Zander.
Overseas military ballots have a ten day grace period, which means in a really really tight race, it could delay knowing who wins.
Currently most of Arizona, Hawaii, territories and various Native American nations are exempt from Daylight Savings.
As of five o’clock Wednesday afternoon, the window for requesting a mail ballot be sent to you has closed.
Ballots can still be picked up in supervisors offices.

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Daylight Savings Not Changing in Florida, At Least Not Yet

October 31st, 2018 by Jake Stofan
Florida passed a law in March moving the state to daylight savings time year round.
Rick Scott signed it, but you’ll still have to set your clocks back an hour on Sunday.
That means it will be getting darker an hour earlier for Floridians.
The Sunshine Protection commits Florida to year round daylight savings, but first Congress has to allow it.
House Sponsor Rep. Heather Fitzenhagen told us in January why staying with one time would be not only less confusing, but beneficial.
“Our visitors will be able to enjoy it and our restaurants and businesses will have another hour for people to enjoy the daylight and the beautiful weather that we have,” said Fitzenhagen.
Senator Marco Rubio filed two bills soon after the Legislation was signed.
One would exempt Florida from the Uniform Time Act, allowing the state to make the switch to permanent daylight savings.
The other proposes moving the entire country to year round Daylight Savings Time.
Neither have gotten a hearing.
While many we asked were unaware the new law didn’t change anything, most the agreed with the the law’s sentiment.
‘“Because I don’t think changing clocks is really effective,” said FSU student Kiara Gilbert.
“I think it would be beneficial for students, especially for educators as well, really just your entire education system and like you said it’s the Sunshine State so it just seems fitting,” said FSU Senior Anthony Pagano.
Some studies have suggested crime is lower during Daylight Savings Time and others have suggested energy costs are also lowered.
Currently most of Arizona, Hawaii, territories and various Native American nations are exempt from Daylight Savings.

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Tallahassee Battered by Trump Tweets and Cable News

October 30th, 2018 by Mike Vasilinda
President Donald Trump waded into the Florida Governor ’s race again, tweeting that Democrat Andrew Gillum was corrupt and the criticism of the Tallahassee Mayor and the capital city is giving the city a black eye.
Florida TV viewers are being bombarded with ads like this one, in multiple rotation.
“20 FBI agents have spent two years investigating the city in Andrew Gillum’s tenure,” said one ad.
On Monday, President Donald Trump tweeted that Gubernatorial Candidate Andrew Gillum was a, ‘thief’.
It’s not just Floridians, but the entire nation that is seeking Gillum and his city being bashed on cable news programs.
“They just get this overall impression that Tallahassee is one of the most corrupt cities in the country and that we’re one of the most violent cities in the country and that’s really hard to overcome,” said FSU political Scientist Carol Weissert.
PR Guru and former Tallahassee Chamber Chairman Ron Sachs said the tweet was, “Somewhat unpresidential, for a president to have enough time to bother to tweet an attack on an American capital city.”
Even the local GOP chair wants people to know its about Gillum and not the city and its people.
“He’s not saying it’s a bad place to live, he saying we a have a bad, a not well run city government,” said Power.
One of the big pushes has been to attract more seniors to retire to Tallahassee, but all this advertising is likely to make that more difficult.
In the shadow of the Capitol we asked people at this local lunch spot to raise their hands is they thought Tallahassee was a great place to live.
Half did.
One person muttered, ‘This must be about Gillum’.
The Tallahassee Mayor has said repeatedly he is not a target of the investigation and has called on the FBI to tell people what it knows.
In response to the latest Trump tweet he replied: “He’s howling because he is weak.”

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Can Gillum Work With the GOP to Increase Cooperate Tax?

October 30th, 2018 by Jake Stofan
One of Andrew Gillum’s first campaign pledges was to raise education spending by $1 billion.
To do so he says he would raise the state’s cooperate tax rate, but the Democratic Candidate is likely to face push back from a Republican Legislature.
One of Tallahassee Mayor and Democratic Gubernatorial candidate in January Andrew Gillum’s first press conferences focused on a promise.
“We can invest $1 billion in rebuilding schools,” Gillum said.
He proposes raising the cooperate tax rate in the state to 7.75% from its current 5.5%.
It’s no surprise that businesses don’t like it.
“The state’s in a great place right now and I think our members are pretty clear that they would like to keep things as is,” said James Miller with the Florida Retail Federation.
Any tax increase is a hard sell for Republicans.
Even if Democrats increase their margins in the Legislature, some Republicans will have to be onboard.
Bob Martinez served as Florida’s 40th Governor.
He was a Republican facing a Democratic House and Senate.
We asked him how he dealt with a Legislature controlled by an opposing party.
“I first started coming up here in 1965 and it was all Democrat and the House and the Senate would fight with the Governor all the same party,” said Martinez. “So it just is a different kind of perhaps debate.”
Florida TaxWatch says if Gillum wants more revenue, he should propose the state start collecting the tax already owed on internet sales.
“A remote sales can be two to three times what an increase of the cooperate income tax could bring and it would be well accepted by the people of Florida,” said TaxWatch President, Dominic Calabro.
If Amendment 5 passes in November, Gillum will have to garner 2/3’s support of the Legislature to raise the cooperate tax, instead of the current 3/5’s.
When asked how Gillum plans to gain Republican support for his operate tax increase his campaign responded with a statement saying, “Mayor Gillum is going to work as Governor with anyone willing to create good jobs, pay better wages, and invest a billion dollars into training Florida’s future workforce. It’s a common-sense investment in growing the most talented state in America.”

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TaxWatch Unveils Guide to Help Next Governor

October 30th, 2018 by Jake Stofan
Florida TaxWatch, former Florida Governor Bob Martinez and a coalition of former state Legislators unveiled the 4th edition of the Governor’s Transition Decision Handbook Tuesday morning.
The guide is given to both candidates as a nonpartisan informational resource to help them transition from campaigning to leading the country’s third largest state.
It gives history on issues important in the state like the environment, taxation, affordable housing, the budget and many more.
As former Governor Martinez says, most importantly it helps take the new Governor through the first 100 days in office.
“All of these things that are not on your mind now as you’re campaigning for office. All of the sudden you get elected, all these things are before you, you have to put a transition team together,” said Martinez. “The transition team may be scrambling in terms of where do we go next and what this is for is to at least give a guide at the things you’ll have to look at as they implement their policies as they organize their administration.”
The guide includes testimony and advice from former Lieutenant Governors and Governors ranging from Rick Scott to C. Farris Bryant who held office from 1961 to 1965.

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Gubernatorial Candidates Split on Rights Restoration

October 29th, 2018 by Jake Stofan
The major party gubernatorial candidates have very different opinions when it comes to automatically restoring a felon’s right to vote.
Amendment 4 would do just that for the majority of Florida’s 1.7 million non violent felons in the state after they’ve served their time and paid their fines.
It’s one of two amendments put on the ballot this year by citizen initiative.
The idea is supported by Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum.
“We ought to level those barriers that keep you from being able to make a way for yourself and for your family, having the dignity around a vote,” said Gillum at a rally in support of the amendment in April.
Republican Ron DeSantis says felons need to prove they’ve changed after their sentence.
“An appallingly high percentage of people who get out of prison as convicted felons re-offend,” said DeSantis.
Faith leaders in the state’s capital city tried to garner support for Amendment 4 Monday, saying it would be an act of compassion.
“The American way, the faith way is give a person another chance. Help instill hope in that person,” said Reverend of Bethel Baptist Church in Tallahassee, R.B. Holmes.
If Amendment 4 does not pass the state’s clemency process will be in the hands of the next Governor.
“I do believe in a process where you have objective criteria so that people have an intensive to get right with not just the law, but society,” said DeSantis.
Gillum says if he’s elected, he’d create avenues for automatic restoration even if Amendment 4 fails.
“Through Executive Order we will restore the rights of former felons,” said Gillum.
A recent statewide survey conducted by St. Pete polls found six out of ten Florida voters support Amendment 4.
One out of three oppose it, which means its fate is in the hands of the 7% who are undecided.

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Early Voting Steady in Panhandle

October 29th, 2018 by Mike Vasilinda
More than 2.5 million people have already voted in Florida.
Early voting began over the weekend in most of the panhandle counties hit hardest by Hurricane Michael.
Turnout has been slow, but Monday morning showed signs things may be picking up.
Downtown Marianna still looks like a bomb went off.
Blocks away, we found a steady stream of early voters.
“I think we’re good. We’re tough people and we’ll fight through it,” said Virgil Shannon, a local timber consultant.
Early voting started Saturday in the county.
10% cast a ballot.
Normally, there would be 14 precincts open in Jackson county on Election Day, but this year there’ll be only three.
“We will have a sign indicating your polling place is closed,” said Jackson County Elections Supervisor, Sylvia Stephens. “Some still don’t have power. They’re being used for emergency staging sites, and also for distribution sites.”
30 miles south in Calhoun County, early voting has been open for a week.
While voting is expected to be fairly normal there, in Panama City, which has more than 40 precincts, only six super precincts are going to be open.
Back in Marianna, We found Jeff Cloud surveying his graphics business.
“The windows blew out on that end and the hurricane came through the building and blew this out,” said Cloud.
He’s not sure he’ll be able to reopen after  rain damaged his equipment.
He is sure he will vote.
“We got a lot on our plate, but we’re still thinking about the future,” said Cloud. “Everything was great. We has the best… we had the best October we’ve had in forever and it’s because of Trump’s policies.”
The hurricane effected counties produced 70% of Rick Scott’s victory margin in 2014.
Turnout there could be one of the largest factors in deciding who is Florida’s next Governor.
In 2016 Donald Trump got 77,000 votes in the nine hardest hit counties.
His biggest margin came from Panama City in Bay County, which is registered Republican by a two to one margin.

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Suspected Bomber Tweeted About Gillum, New Documents Released in Ethics Investigation

October 26th, 2018 by Jake Stofan
The man arrested for sending a series of pipe bombs to at least 12 high ranking Democrats has also been Tweeting about Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Andrew Gillum.
Gillum was in the state’s capital city Friday morning kicking off a statewide bus tour, but at the rally’s conclusion, Gillum hustled away without talking to the Capital Press Corps.
Gillum marched with a crowd of about 200 students from FAMU to the FSU law school.
His message to young voters: Make your voices heard.
“I want to be your best representative voice as the next Governor of the great state of Florida, but we cannot get there unless we do our part,” Gillum said to the crowd.
Many of the students at the rally immediately walked across the street to the polling place on campus.
By noon, 135 had already cast their ballot there.
As the day went on Gillum’s campaign was hit by two bombshells.
Cesar Sayoc Jr. from Ventura Florida was arrested, Friday.
He is suspected to have sent pipe bombs to at least 12 high ranking Democrats throughout the country.
The suspected bombers last two tweets appear to have targeted the Tallahassee Mayor.
Gillum’s campaign says they’re in contact with authorities and have taken strong security precautions following the discovery of the suspected bomber’s Tweets.
Gillum said in a statement, “It is fortunate that the evil intent of the bomber has not been realized. I call on all political leaders to cease the dangerous rhetoric of hatred and division that is poisoning our society.”
A second set of documents was also subpoenaed by the Florida Commission on Ethics.
The documents show an FBI agent was asked to pay $4,300 for the catering a Gillum fundraiser in 2016.
“That is not wavering my vote. I believe in him as a person. I believe in his values,” said Saskiya Fagan, an FSU student who voted for Gillum.
Democratic Representative Carlos Guillermo Smith says the allegations against Gillum are small potatoes.
“Especially in the appropriate context where Florida elected a Governor twice, who basically oversaw the largest Medicare fraud in the history of the United States,” said Smith.
Gillum left the rally without taking questions.
We were told he was running late for a rally at the university of Florida.

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Court Keeps Amendment Six, Despite Bundling

October 25th, 2018 by Mike Vasilinda
The Supreme Court of Florida ruled Thursday that even though Amendment six contains multiple issues, it can stay on the ballot.
The main purpose and selling point of Amendment 6 is to give victims more rights.
It also raises the age of retirement for judges and impacts state agency rules, but much of what the amendment seeks for victims is already in the constitution.
The main purpose and selling point of Amendment 6 on this years ballot is to give victims more rights.
It also raises the age of retirement for judges and impacts state agency rules, but much of what the amendment seeks for victims is already in the constitution.
In television ads supporting amendment 6, Actor Kelsey Grammar talks of losing his father and sister to murders six years apart.
“In my sisters case, I’ve been allowed a voice in the parole hearings of her killers, but that’s not always the case in Florida,” Grammar said.
“That’s completely false,” said President of the Florida Criminal Defense Lawyers Association Richard Greenberg.
The Constitution already requires and the parole authority in Florida, now called the Commission on Offender Review regularly hears from victims.
Last year the Commission assisted more than 21 thousand victims.
“As an inmate comes up for an interview, our victims services unit will reach out to the victim or their family members and let them know that is coming down the pipeline. They will be scheduled for a hearing and they are welcome to appear,” said Kelly Corder with the Commission on Offender Review.
Amendment Sponsor Tim Cerio praised parole officials but said not every agency does as well.
“Marsey’s Law will still be there if something is missed,” said Cerio.
Right now, the Constitution uses 55 words to spell out victims rights.
This amendment adds more than 15 more.
Among them, judges must justify why a defendant isn’t brought to trial within 60 days.
“The problem with amendment six is that its going to let the victims run the show,” said Greenberg. “They’re going to be able to tell the prosecutors, judges, and law enforcement on how to handle the case.”
Flordia was one of the first to adopt a victims rights clause in 1988.
Each of the states 20 prosecutors, as well as the Attorney general, have victims rights advocates in their offices.
Billionaire Henry T. Nicholas III is the money behind the amendment.
He was arrested in August in Las Vegas on suspicion of narcotics trafficking.

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Third Lineman Passes Away in Fatal Chipley Accident

October 25th, 2018 by Jake Stofan
Three linemen are dead after a suspected drunk driver ran off the highway and struck them in rural northwest Florida near Chipley.
The driver is facing multiple charges and is being held without bail.
Highway Patrol investigators were still on the scene, Thursday afternoon, 20 hours after a Ford F-150 towing a U-haul trailer ran off the road into a crew of linemen.
“He didn’t just swerve off the road. He completely left road,” said Washington County Sheriff Kevin Crews.
The suspect, John Goedtke ran from the scene.
After fleeing the scene police were able to apprehend Goedtke about five miles away.
Police say he appeared to be intoxicated.
“He was trying to get out of here. In my opinion he knew what he had done,” said Crews.
The incident left three linemen dead, two from North Carolina, the other a 60-year-old resident of Chipley well known in the community.
“Our hearts ache for this family,” said Crews.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office says Goedtke told police he had come north from Tampa to help storm victims, but his long criminal record spanning 18 years and 27 arrests makes police suspect he was actually there to prey on them.
“A storm of this magnitude, it certainly brings the good people out, but not only does it bring the good people out, it brings the bad people out and this guy right here, he’s a bad one,” said Crews.
Thousands of linemen continue working to restore power throughout the panhandle.
“We continue to ask people to slow down,” said Crews.
The tragedy has sent shockwaves through the community, a community already mourning losses from Hurricane Michael, now left to mourn the lives lost of those who came to make life easier
Goedtke has been charged with at least three crimes including DUI manslaughter, felony vehicular homicide and felony leaving the scene. More charges may be on the horizon.

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Gillum Documents Show No Smoking Gun

October 24th, 2018 by Jake Stofan
Gubernatorial candidates Ron DeSantis and Andrew Gillum face off tonight in their second and final debate.
It will almost certainly produce fireworks after a one time close Gillum friend dropped 150 pages of texts, emails, and photos involving five trips taken by Gillum.
The 150 pages detail emails and texts about arrangements and expenses between Andrew Gillum, his brother, former close associate Adam Corey and an undercover FBI agent. There were trips to New York, Amelia Island, Miami, Costa Rica and Qatar.
During the first gubernatorial debate, Republican Ron DeSantis brought up the trip to New York.
“Did you pay for Hamilton?” Did you pay for the trip?” DeSantis asked during the debate.
The texts show Corey texted Gillum, saying Mike Miller, the undercover FBI agent arranged for tickets to the broadway show.
Gillum took to Facebook and MSNBC to say the texts backup what he has said all along.
“When I got to the theatre, my brother handed me the ticket,” said Gillum. “The idea that I accepted a gift never came to me.”
Polls show that less than 10% of voters haven’t made up their mind, so political scientists question whether these documents will make any difference at all.
“I think it’s complicated and I think that augers against it, right,” said FSU Political Science Professor Carol Weissert. “People…wait a minute, it was Hamilton tickets? Who gave it and who is this person, and I think there’s gonna just say, I believe it, or I don’t believe it. I care, or I don’t care.”
The documents were subpoenaed by the state ethics commission.
It’s investigating whether the Tallahassee Mayor paid all of his expenses on the trips.
No decision from the ethics panel is expected before the election.
Gillum maintains the FBI has told them he is not the target of their investigation and he has not been named in court documents.
A City Commissioner and several others, including the Mayors former treasurer have been named in subpoenas.

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Amendment 11 Could Help Decrease Prison Population

October 24th, 2018 by Jake Stofan
Florida spends about $2 and a half billion annually on a prison population nearing 100,000 inmates.
Criminal justice reform advocates say Amendment 11 on the November ballot could help reduce the cost.
The ‘Savings Clause’ was originally added to the state constitution in 1885.
It prohibits state lawmakers from applying changes to criminal penalties to old cases.
“It is a vestige of Jim Crow,” said Scott McCoy with the Southern Poverty Law Center.
McCoy says the century-old language has tied the hands of state lawmakers ever since.
“We have a lot of people sitting in prison right now for conduct that we in the past wanted to punish really really harshly, but now we understand that was a mistake,” said McCoy.
As of 2016 about one out of three inmates were serving mandatory minimum or enhanced sentences in Florida.
Amendment 11 would remove language from the state’s constitution that blocks the Legislature from retroactively applying changes to criminal penalties, which could reduce the number of inmates serving outdated mandatory minimums.
“That basically gives the Legislature the power that currently every other state in the nation already has,” said Chelsea Murphy with the group, Right on Crime.
Hypothetically, if recreational marijuana was legalized today, the state Legislature has no authority to throw out old cases or reduce sentences for more than 300 Florida prisoners serving time primarily  for marijuana related crimes.
“Why should someone, just because a day passed, be held to the harsher punishment when we’ve all collectively made the decision to reduce that penalty by a certain amount,” said McCoy.
It’s unclear how many prisoners could be impacted if Amendment 11 passes.
The Legislature could choose not to make any new sentences retroactive, or apply retroactivity to only certain crimes.
Amendment 11 was put on the ballot by the Constitution Revision Commission.
The removal of the Savings Clause is bundled with two other proposals that remove outdated language from the constitution.

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Biden Stumps for Nelson

October 23rd, 2018 by Jake Stofan
Former Vice President Joe Biden was on the stump with US  Senator Bill Nelson Tuesday in the State Capital.
Hundreds turned out for an impromptu visit to a coffee shop, suggesting that there may indeed by a wave of young, new voters.
“I’m so excited. I texted my mom and she told that I need to ask him to run for President in 2020,” said FSU freshman Avery Rothberg.
Protests and counter protests sprung up at the event.
Many of the students are first time voters.
“I’m just turned 18, so this is the first yer I’ll be able too, but I’m very excited to vote,” said Maggie Creasman from Jacksonville.
As the crowd built, Biden changed venues.
Biden’s staff said the venue change was for Security.
GOP protesters say it was to avoid their criticism.
“This guy has got more character in his little finger than most people have in their whole body,” Biden said describing Sen. Nelson.
The Quinnipiac poll has Nelson up by six points.
Rick Scott says he’s up by five.
Nelson will say only that he is confident, but Biden’s presence speaks volumes.
“I think it’s gonna turn out okay,” said Nelson. “I’m not give you numbers, but I’ll tell you its encouraging.”
After half an hour, Biden pushed the young to vote.
“You can own this election. Take it back,” said Biden.
Many first and second time voters here are fired up.
“I’ve got a lot of close friends who were effected by the shooting at Douglas,” Shana Goldstein from Coral Springs.
“Everybody’s talking, saying we’ve got to get out there, we have to vote,” said Joe McDermott from Lakeland. “We have to make a difference so what we want to change will actually change.”
The polling memo showing Rick Scott up by five is based on the turnout model for the 2014 election.
What it doesn’t consider is whether there really is a wave of first time voters this year.

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Voters Unhappy With Bundled Offshore Drilling and Vaping Amendment

October 23rd, 2018 by Jake Stofan
Offshore oil drilling in state waters would be banned by Amendment 9 on this year’s ballot.
Offshore drilling or exploration hasn’t been allowed in state waters by law  since 1990, but Amendment 9 gives Florida voters the choice to solidify the ban in the constitution.
“Offshore drilling is inconsistent with Floridians and our economies,” said Hunter Miller with the environmental group Oceana.
In 2010 the BP Oil Spill coated some Florida beaches with tar balls.
Just one year earlier, the State House voted to repeal the ban on oil exploration in state waters, but it was blocked by the Senate.
“We didn’t have that solid protection in our constitution and it becomes much harder to get rid of if it’s in our constitution,” said Miller.
Amendment 9 is opposed by the group Explore Offshore, which is made up of former Florida officials and oil industry lobby groups.
“We deeply believe that we can do this [explore offshore drilling] in a balanced responsible way to protect the environment of Florida,” said former Florida Lieutenant Governor Jeff Kottkamp at a press conference held by the group in August.
Amendment 9 also includes a ban on vaping in the workplace, which is another subject already covered in Florida law.
The bundling was unsuccessfully challenged in court, with the Florida Supreme Court ruling that the Constitution Revision Commission had the authority to change multiple parts of the constitution with single ballot items.
Voters we spoke with like FSU Student Alix Clise, say combining the two ideas upset them; even if they decided to vote yes.
“It’s ridiculous that they’re put together on the ballot. There’s no relation between indoor vaping and offshore drilling, but if you have to compare the two, it’s more important to ban offshore drilling than to give somebody the right to hit their JUUL inside,” said Clise.
The ban on oil drilling doesn’t affect Federal waters, which were opened up for exploration by the Trump administration earlier this year.
The administration pledged to take Florida off the table, but so far there has been no official action.

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Gillum’s Siblings Accused of Voting Illegally

October 22nd, 2018 by Jake Stofan
A new report from a conservative news outlet in the State’s Capital city suggests Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Andrew Gillum’s siblings may have voted illegally. 
The report cites court, DMV and other public records suggesting  Andrew Gillum’s brother, Marcus Gillum used his brothers former address to vote in Florida in 2016 despite residing in Chicago at the time. 
The report also suggests another sibling, sister Monique Gillum, may have lived in New York but voted at the same address as her brother in 2016.  
Leon County Supervisor of Elections Mark Earley says the allegations against Marcus Gillum are currently being reviewed.
“We’ve been sending communications to the address he has on file since 2004 or 2005. Nothing’s been returned to us as undeliverable so as far as we can tell he is a valid voter for Leon County,” said Earley. “Now like I say, we did get presented information, so I’m compelled by that to just kind of validate that he is a registered voter at the address we have on file.”
Earley says he not sure if criminal charges would be brought if the allegations are found to be credible, but if either sibling is found to be residing outside of the county or state they will be removed from the voter role. 

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