In 2022, voters and candidates reclaim their birthright
Florida’s campaign season is officially one week old today. Soon campaign signs will start breeding along most thoroughfares, and mailboxes will overflow with cardboard come-ons — some meant to introduce candidates and lay out their earnest plans, others to trick voters into supporting the wishes of shadowy big-money donors. These constant bids for attention, money and votes can feel exhausting — especially in a year where Floridians already feel pummeled by state leaders’ hyperpartisan behavior and divided by gaps based not just on beliefs, but on perceptions of facts.
But please don’t lose heart. America’s democratic republic form of government is resilient, and can survive a few bad seasons — even a fumbling attempt at violent insurrection. This year can renew our collective faith in Americans’ right to choose its leaders, and to seek those who can be trusted to work for the common good.
Stepping up to serve
Across Central Florida and throughout the state, thousands of Floridians qualified as candidates for public office. It’s an unusually busy season, from the top of the ballot on down. One good example: In Florida legislative races, 32 of the Senate’s 40 open seats have at least two candidates qualified. Compare that to past years when barely half the open races drew opponents. Ninety state House seats are also being contested. We’re seeing a similarly high participation rate in many city and county races. And a few local congressional races are overwhelming, with a dozen or more candidates.
That’s good news. It’s easy to be cynical about politicians as a group, but remember this: For many of these people, running for office is a sincere and honorable act of public service. Over the next months, they will see their privacy invaded, their background examined and their positions questioned (and sometimes mocked). Their campaigns will also be marked by what they don’t do — a list that includes leisure activities, time with family and sleep. And they quickly realize, if they didn’t already know, that if they win things will only get tougher.
This year, we’ll carry out our election-year tradition of interviewing and investigating candidates before making endorsements. Over years of candidate interviews, members of the Orlando Sentinel’s editorial board have developed a healthy respect for most of these political aspirants — even the ones we disagree with. (It’s worth noting that — while the paper’s positions lean liberal — most years we endorse roughly equal numbers of Republicans and Democrats.)
Taking a closer look
We’ll be looking for candidates who have prepared themselves for public office. Many will have strong records of community service. It’s important that they are independent thinkers — willing to listen to experts (including their own agency’s staff members) but armed with enough knowledge to resist attempts at manipulation. And regardless of their political orientation, they should be able to look past the blinders of their own ideology and balance competing demands.
Based on past experience, we expect that most of the candidates we meet will be truly impressive people. This year, as in most years, the decisions will be tough. Often, we’ll find ourselves lamenting that voters are limited to just one choice.
We’re also going to post and print a treasure trove of information — including candidate questionnaires in our expanded Voter’s Guide, video of editorial board interviews and links to our reporters’ stories — that can help you make up your own mind.
Finally, of course, both the editorial board and the Sentinel’s award-winning news staff (which operates separately from our Opinion department) will be on the alert for deceptive tactics and shadowy power brokers working to trick you into ignoring your own best interests.
Feel free to tell us what questions you want asked, and what you’re looking for in a candidate. Soon we’ll publish guidelines for letters to the editor about the candidates; this is another opportunity to share your views.
Voters should demand control
It’s going to be a long haul — eight weeks until the August 23 primary, 19 until the Nov. 8 general election. And Americans’ faith in our collective power has been strained in recent weeks by footage of people scaling the walls of the U.S. Capitol, and speaking with confidence of overturning legitimate elections.
Voters must be doubly wary this year of attempts to steal their power. Laws passed in the last two legislative sessions seem focused on restricting access to the polls. And few know what role Gov Ron DeSantis’ new election-law enforcement will play, if any, in discouraging voter participation.
There’s hard work ahead, and disappointment as well as triumph. But there’s also an opportunity for each of us: A chance to reaffirm our commitment to the truest ideals of our democracy and to the promise of a peaceful transition of power, guided by the will of the people.