My Florida absentee ballot finally came in the mail on Monday. Here's the list of candidates on the ballot.
US Senate
Castor, Betty
Deutsch, Peter
Klein, Bernard E.
Penelas, Alex
Circuit Judge: 11th Circuit, Group 3
Pooler, Teresa M.
Schlesinger, John
Group 32
Areces, Barbara
Levy, D. Bruce
Group 40
Thomas, William L.
Velis, Josie M.
Parks, Catherine B.
Cohn, Don S.
Group 45
Adrien, Peter
Harnage, Henry H.
County Court Judge, Group 15
Manno, Valerie R.
Rubenstein, Judith "Judy"
Group 37
Pozo Revilla, Ada
Swartz, Jeffrey David
Mayor of Unincorporated Miami-Dade County
Alvarez, Carlos A.
Blue, Deliverance Charles
Cancela, Jose
Diaz de la Portilla, Miguel
Ferre, Maurice
Love, Jay N.
Morales, Jimmy
Slater, Dave
School Board Member, District 9
Brown, Karin A.
Greer, Evelyn
Lerner, Cindy
Meinbach, Anita
Pepper, Jacqueline "Jackie" V.
Pinder, Mamie
Renick, Dick
Santa-Maria, Peter W.
Palmetto Bay Council Member, Seat 2
Bifano, Gabe
Neidhart, Paul
The reason I'm posting this diary because I thought I might get some advice from other Kos players as to who's worth voting for and who isn't. I'll be reading the websites of all these candidates who have websites, but of course I don't think the info on their personal websites is 100% reliable. OTOH I don't really have time to do in depth research on all these candidates. So I thought a diary might help me.
1.) I'm undecided between Castor and Deutsch. People here seem to be lining up to Castor, but why? I haven't heard anything to really convince me that Castor is good and Deutsch is bad, or the other way around. So what IS good or bad about each? ( I WON'T vote for Penelas. I supported Elian Gonzales being returned to his dad, but Penelas said he wouldn't honor any order to do that, disgracing my community. And who's Bernard Klein? :-)
2.) The judge votes are what trouble me the most. I always feel I don't know enough about the judges . I usually vote based on their endorsements from legal societies. But I'm really afraid that I might vote for a right wing nut without even knowing. Is there any candidate in the judge races I REALLY should avoid?
3.) The Mayor race is to replace Penelas. Miami Dade County is actually a very important county. But I'm afraid I haven't been following this race closely. What candidates here look good to Kos players? ( Bleah, I can't believe Maurice Ferre is still out there running for an office. )
4.) I have the same worry about my school board vote as I do about my judge votes. I DON'T want to put a creationist psychopath on the board. So is there anyone I must avoid?
Thanks very much to anyone who can offer me advice.