I voted early, so these are my final decisions, including those for the local races from my base in Coral Springs:
Top of the ticket:
Kendrick Meek for U.S. Senate
Congressmen Ron Klein and Ted Deutch for reelection
Alex Sink for Governor
Dan Gelber for Attorney General
Loranne Ausley for CFO
I’m not in the right district to vote for Klein, but I believe his is the most important race in this election cycle for people in our area, partly because his Republican opponent would be such a disaster.
Marco Rubio will be a disaster, too, if he is elected to Senate — which unfortunately looks all too likely in a 3-way race. I understand the argument in favor of Crist but don’t find him trustworthy. So I voted for Meek, and I’m hoping he pulls it off against all odds.
I don’t know why Alex Sink versus Rick Scott is even a contest. How could voters seriously consider making a governor of someone so closely linked to a huge Medicare fraud case? Either he was complicit in the fraud, or he’s an incompetent leader for failing to know about it. But the polls remain close, and Alex deserves all the support you can throw her way.
Continuing down the ballot:
State Senator Jeremy Ring
State Rep. Ari Porth
Dave Thomas for School Board
Roy Gold for Mayor of Coral Springs
Yes on Amendments 5 and 6, the Fair Districts redistricting reform initiative. If there is any justice in the world, these will pass with a big margin. This assumes voters are smart enough to figure out why there are two parts to it (one for federal and one for state offices).
No on Amendment 4, the Hometown Democracy one on voter approval of big land use changes. I had a hard time making up my mind about this one, but ultimately had enough doubts about the unintended consequences it might cause. I think the opposition was guilty of exaggerating and distorting the likely results, but I could also see the potential for good intentions to produce bad results.
Yes on Amendment 8, another difficult one. Alters the rules imposed under the class size reduction amendment of 2002 and provides more flexibility for how class sizes will be calculated. Intended to lessen the budgetary impact of hiring more teachers, reshuffling classes. The original class size amendment has been sabotaged by lack of funding from the state, and the only way to change it is to change the leadership of the state. Rejecting this amendment would not solve that problem; it would only mean more trouble for our screwed up schools.
BTW, Dan Gelber says he wants to sue the Florida Legislature for failing to fund the quality public education promised in the state Constitution. Don’t know whether it will work, but it’s one reason I was happy to vote for him.