The Bradenton Times has assembled this voting guide to help you understand the issues and who the candidates are. In local races, we offer race analysis when we feel all candidates are qualified. We issue endorsements when one candidate may be better qualified. We also offer links to all the candidates on the ballot.
We try our best to provide the facts for you to make an informed decision or, at minimum, a link to more information.
This general election has so many candidates and issues that it can get overwhelming. We tried to harvest some information from candidates' websites, the League of Women Voters, and our publication. Don't be fooled by those slick ads and text messages. We can only hope that what we have assembled here helps you become an informed voter.
Note: Click the name to go to their candidate page on our site and the links in blue for lots of information.
Click here for all of the candidates and issues on the ballot. (Note: On some ballots there are races like a CDD that is specific to your subdivision that we do not list)
Supervisor of Elections - Republican Scott Farrington - THE BRADENTON TIMES HAS ENDORSED SCOTT FARRINGTON. There is a write-in candidate associated with Carlos Beruff, who closed the primary to only Republicans during the Primary. Only Scott Farrington's name will be on the ballot with a blank line for the General Election.
Manatee County School Board - Non-partisan, all voters will have races on their ballot, regardless of party registration
City of Bradenton Ward 5 - Race Analysis - Each candidate brings unique skill sets to this race, and we believe that both would make for competent and responsive City Council Members.
Florida Legislature
Federal races
President:
United States Representative District 16 Congress:
State Representative District 70
State Representative District 71
State Representative District 72
2024 State and Local Ballot Referendums - There are quite a few issues besides candidates. Here is the best we can do to help provide a one stop location for information.
There will be six state constitutional amendments decided on November's ballot and two local Referendums. Two of the state amendments were proposed by citizen initiatives, while the state legislature is bringing forward four.
Amending the constitution via referendum requires 60 % of the vote.
State Referendums
I find it difficult to make an argument that school district politics would need to become even more politicized than they have grown in the past several years, but I suppose the partisan forces that always do their best to make sure any veil of nonpartisanship in these races falls before the election would like to make their jobs easier.
Opponents argue that there is no evidence that Floridians need broader access to hunting and fishing and fear that the traditional methods language is meant to circumvent the gill net ban voters passed by referendum in 1994 with 72% support.
Advocates of the referendum argue that Amendment 2 will prevent extremists from taking away citizen rights. Yes on 2 currently enjoys a significant advantage in PAC support.
Medical marijuana passed with 71 percent of the vote in 2016. However, the drug remains illegal federally. Possession of more than 20 grams is still a felony, while under 20 grams is a misdemeanor, although the Biden administration has instructed the Department of Health and Human Services to begin taking steps toward reclassifying it from a Schedule 1 narcotic to a Schedule 3 drug.
Twenty four states and the District of Columbia have legalized possession of marijuana for adults. It is estimated that legalizing recreational marijuana would raise between $200-400 million in annual sales tax revenues for the state.
A yes vote on Amendment 4 supports adding the following language to the Florida Constitution’s Declaration of Rights: “… no law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider.”
Amendment 4 would maintain a current provision approved by voters in 2004 that allows for a law requiring parents to be notified before a minor can receive an abortion.
Earlier this year, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution's right to privacy does not include the right to abortion. This decision overturned a 1989 ruling which found that the privacy clause did include a right to abortion.
The ruling allowed the state's 2022 15-week abortion ban to take effect. In 2023, the legislature went a step further, passing the Heartbeat Protection Act to ban abortion at six weeks, which was contingent on the state supreme court overturning its prior ruling.
A no vote on Amendment 4 would preserve the six-week ban that took effect on May 1. Before 2022, abortions were legal in Florida until 24 weeks.
If passed, this would increase the size of the exemption this year and each year after that in which the Consumer Price Index increases. In other words, there would be the $25,000 base exemption plus the rise in CPI each year, money that would be lost to local government services.
The Save Our Homes Act already caps homestead tax increases at 3% per year or the CPI, whichever is less, representing an existing loss to local governments. State economists predict that the amendment would reduce local government tax collections by $22.8 million during the 2025-2026 fiscal year, growing to $111.8 million during the 2028-2029 fiscal year, assuming existing tax rates.
In 1998, Florida voters passed an amendment providing for public funding for candidates for state office by 64%. A 2011 effort to repeal public financing failed. Public financing in Florida is available for gubernatorial candidates and elected cabinet members (attorney general, chief financial officer, and commissioner of agriculture).
To qualify for public campaign financing, a candidate must not be unopposed, agree to expenditure limits, raise $150,000 (for gubernatorial candidates) or $100,000 (for cabinet candidates), limit loans or contributions from the candidate’s personal funds to $25,000, limit contributions from political parties to $250,000, and report campaign financing data to the division of elections and submit to a post-election financial audit.
Public campaign financing is funded via the General Revenue Fund. In 2022, the expenditure limit for gubernatorial candidates receiving public campaign financing was $30.29 million ($2.00 per registered voter), while the limit for cabinet candidates was $15.14 million ($1.00 per registered voter). Public funding of campaigns allows for a broader pool of candidates and works as a bulwark against one-party rule.
Local Referendums
Optional School Board Millage Renewal
The funds can be used for school safety and security, recruiting and retaining teachers and staff, additional instructional time and support, early literacy programs, career and technical education, STEM, visual and performing arts, athletics, and public charter schools. An independent citizen committee oversees the spending to ensure proper use of the funds.
Indeed, Manatee County Schools has not always been a good steward of the public's money. Still, the past few years have seen an impressive turnaround under Superintendent Jason Wysong's administration. Furthermore, the district will undoubtedly suffer catastrophic shortages for existing programs if the additional mill is not renewed, and that will impact classroom education.
The county is asking to levy and collect an additional one percent Tourist Development Tax from all short-term rentals of all lodging or accommodations to provide additional revenue to fund the improvements and operation of the convention center, sports complexes, aquariums, beaches, promoting tourism, and all other permissible uses.
High-impact tourism counties, as defined by the state, are eligible to put the extra millage point on the ballot. Previously, qualifying counties could pass the increase via the board of county commissioners. Each eligible county, including neighboring Sarasota and Pinellas counties, has done so. However, a 2022 statute passed by the Florida Legislature requires counties to put the increases to a vote. Manatee County just became a high-impact tourism county, meaning it will be among the first to put it on a referendum.
The county has argued that this increase will not impact Manatee County taxpayers because it is almost exclusively paid by tourists who visit the area. However, the increased tax does impact local, tourist-related businesses, as each time the tourist is hit in the wallet, they are less likely to spend money in the local community. There have also been other aspects of the county's handling of the referendum item that might raise red flags. You can read more in this article by TBT's Dawn Kitterman.
For more information click here to check out The League of Women Voters website. Put in your address and they provide a custom ballot summary.
If you are wondering why the primary shut out voters, the write-in candidate dropped out of the Manatee County Property Appraiser’s race, making it an open primary. Manatee County Commission District 7 and Supervisor of Elections had a write-in candidate who did not pay a qualification fee and will not have their name on the ballot. The "write-in candidates" have ties to the developers (one lived on Beruff’s property). The Florida Constitution provides an open primary when there is only one party. However, a loophole decided by the courts and uncorrected by our legislature ignores the constitutional intent and now prohibits other parties from voting if only one party is on the ballot and there is a write-in candidate. Read it for yourself.
Article VI, Florida Constitution, Section 5
If all candidates for an office have the same party affiliation and the winner has no opposition in the general election, all qualified electors, regardless of party affiliation, may vote in the primary elections for that office.
Fact: Did you know we invited all candidates to be guests on the TBT Podcast so voters could hear directly from them and get to know a person who will have such a great impact on your life? Some agreed to participate, and some did not. Click here for TBT Candidate Podcasts.
Fact: Developers seek to control their candidates. This is political corruption, using mailers and texts with MAGA - Make America Great Again is deceptive especially when they make it appear it is an official endorsement of the Republican Party and or Donald Trump. It is not! It is developer funded, with the intent to deceive Voters. No candidate we endorsed is against development. They just won't be controlled by the developers that expect special favors.
You will find that not one of the developer candidates will debate, attend a forum, appear on a Podcast, or answer questions. They are all controlled by their political hack, Anthony Pedicini, who is paid by Beruff through PACs that he and his companies fund and coordinate. Pedicini sees no use in getting candidates in front of people when he controls so much money to betray us with.
Once in office, Pedicini actually texts commissioners how to vote in real-time as he watches the meetings. He instructs them on everything from who to put on a volunteer board to library policies. This is not a democracy if it allows our local Oligarchs like Beruff, Bob Spencer, Pat Neal, and SMR to control our elected officials. It is just like Russia, not very American and not in keeping with Republican values!
Read the facts before you vote at Thebradentontimes.com
Locally produced fact-based news, owned by a Marine Corp Veteran. Our Editor is an Army Veteran. Both are Republicans.
The Bradenton Times Manatee County Election Voting Guide 2024 needs to be shared with others in our community. Please send at least five emails to other people who can benefit from our reporting before casting a vote. It is critical to educate our citizens that those slick mailers and texts paid for by developers are deceptive and fraudulent!
Early Voting: October 21st – November 2nd, from 8:30 AM to 6:30 PM at:
4915 53rd Avenue East, Bradenton 34203
5502 33rd Avenue Drive W, Bradenton 34209
16410 Rangeland Parkway, Lakewood Ranch 34211
8175 Lakewood Ranch Blvd, Lakewood Ranch 34202
923 6th Street West, Palmetto 34221
3804 North Rye Road, Parrish 34219
6750 US Hwy 301, Ellenton 34222
600 301 Blvd West, Suite 118, Bradenton 34205
Following the recent storms, five election day polling locations were directly impacted. No early voting locations were impacted. The following changes have been made to ensure voters can safely cast their ballots on Tuesday, November 5:
• Precinct 301 and Precinct 305 voters will now vote at the Island Branch Library.
• Precinct 307 voters will now vote at the Longboat Island Chapel.
• Precinct 409 voters will now vote at the State College of Florida.
• Precinct 421 voters will now vote at the Trailer Estates Recreation Hall.
The League of Women Voters of Manatee County Voters’ Guide - Election, August 20, 2024
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Bill
Is Heather Felton still pushing her agenda on training for Trans kids in school?
Thursday, October 24, 2024 Report this
ml.chickp
The link above takes you to the Florida LWV Voters' Guide.
2024 LWVMC Manatee County General Election Voters Guide can be found at:
https://lwvmanatee.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/2024-Manatee-County-General-Election-Voters-Guide-Print-2.pdf
Friday, October 25, 2024 Report this
N_Alice_Newlon
The Amendment 1 summary above is worded as if it doesn't make much difference. The point is made later in the article about the write in candidate loophole, which will be available if Amendment 1 passes. Even without the loophole, partisan school board elections would close the election of school board members in the primary to the majority of voters and not give voters complete choices. Those that are not registered R or D, which that number is growing, will not get to vote in the primary. Closed partisan primaries exclude nearly 30% of registered voters who are classified as NPAs, nearly 4 million voters. This would also make our school boards MORE partisan, not less, and probably lead to more party interference in decisions the board members make. Schools are not the place for this. Nonpartisan school board elections were put in by a citizen's initiative. Let's keep it that way. Amendment 1 is a bad idea.
Sunday, November 3, 2024 Report this