In rematch for Florida House District 89, Mike Caruso is better prepared

Florida House District 89 includes Boca Raton, portions of Delray Beach and areas east of U.S. 1 north to Palm Beach Shores.

Two years ago, Democrat James Bonfiglio came within 32 votes of defeating Republican Mike Caruso in the race for Florida House District 89, which was an open seat. This year, it’s a rematch. So what has changed?

Obviously, Caruso is now the incumbent, so he has a record. That record is the main issue for debate between Bonfiglio — a lawyer and former local official in Ocean Ridge — and Caruso — an accountant who had never held office but had a record of civic involvement in Delray Beach.

To Caruso, that record shows him to be a moderate Republican in the GOP-dominant House. He notes that he voted against the program to allow armed teachers or staff in schools, which Republicans had sponsored. Caruso said he also secured money for projects in Democrats’ districts.

Caruso further takes credit for changing legislation last year that would have required the Palm Beach County School District to share money from the 2018 referendum with charter schools. Democrats had opposed it.

“I work across party lines,” Caruso said during the Sun Sentinel Editorial Board candidate interview. “I have my finger on the pulse of District 89.”

Bonfiglio counters, correctly, that Caruso voted for the charter schoolfriendly version in committee. Only after a Democratic member of the county delegation raised the issue did Caruso seek the change. And the district still would have to share money from future referendums.

Bonfiglio also questions Caruso’s contention that he knows how to pass legislation. He points out, also correctly, that the family of Evelyn Udell criticized Caruso’s bill that he filed in response to Mrs. Udell’s murder in her Boca Raton home last year by a man who had come to deliver a washer and dryer.

A major issue in District 89, especially Delray Beach, is the opioid epidemic. Though Caruso sponsored legislation in response, he overstates its benefit, claiming that he reduced the number of sober homes in the district by 60 percent. In fact, earlier legislation had much more of an impact.

It also does not appear that the Republican Party of Florida considers Caruso any sort of renegade. He has received roughly $30,000 from the GOP and his roughly $270,000 in donations feature most of the committees that finance

Republican campaigns.

Bonfiglio, however, didn’t strike us as the same candidate who ran two years ago. He seemed less focused. Most notably, Bonfiglio said his priority is creation of a state bank. He would model it after one in

North Dakota that finances state projects and was created a century ago.

Two things.

First, it is folly to think that a first-term House member in the minority party would get even a committee hearing on such a major issue. Bonfiglio argues that he could work in steps, but he’s wrong.

Second, this is an absurd priority to have at this time. The next Legislature likely will have to meet in special session on the budget. Though Florida’s economy has begun to recover, the tourism industry is still suffering and thousands of temporary layoffs are becoming permanent. Florida’s unemployment system needs major reform. Those should be Tallahassee’s priorities.

Meeting this moment will require change from many Republicans, especially those in the House. So we were interested to hear that Caruso would raise the weekly unemployment benefits from $275 to perhaps $400. He also would extend those benefits for as long as 26 weeks.

This is one of the few districts that Democrats have a reasonable chance to flip. The outcome may depend on voter perception of President Trump and Gov. DeSantis.

Two years ago, Caruso was a vocal Trump supporter. He didn’t mention the president during our interview. Hoping that his positions now reflect those of the entire district, the Sun Sentinel endorses Mike Caruso in Florida House District 89.

Editorials are the opinion of the Sun Sentinel Editorial Board and written by one of its members or a designee. The Editorial Board consists of Editorial Page Editor Rosemary O’Hara, Dan Sweeney, Steve Bousquet and Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson.

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Running lynching photo was the right thing to do

As painful and disturbing the photo of Rubin Stacy’s lynching is to see [“A lynch mob killed a Black man in Fort Lauderdale in 1935. His name was Rubin Stacy,” Sept. 11], I commend you for publishing it. We must face and accept our past mistakes as a society in order to correct them. Simply suppressing hatred for a period of time only to have it surface over and over is not the answer.

Right thing

Fort Lauderdale

Running lynching photo was the wrong thing to do

The event happened 85 years ago, yet it gets front page coverage. I see no purpose for the story and the photo other than to inflame the Black community, which is already in an uproar over the recent deaths of several Blacks at the hands of police.

Delray Beach

Made myself read the article and, more shocking, the pictures! I too found myself heartbroken on the adults and children captured in the photo. Can anyone looking at that scene be surprised by the anger Black Americans feel all these years? Thanks for showing the courage to remind all Americans what indecency still exists in our so-called civilized, Christian society!

Fort Lauderdale

Wrong thing

In regards to your front-page article about the lynching of a black man in 1935, how is that going to improve race relations? I do realize it was a horrible act and these things should never have happened. Buy by publicizing this unforgivable act, you’re just putting gas on an already big fire!

Are you looking to make South Florida into what’s happening in Portland, Rochester and Kenosha? Your article says you want to preserve history, yet your paper is in favor of changing street names that may offend people of color and taking down statues! How is that preserving history? In a quote by Johnny McCray in your article he says, “It’s History. Why should we ignore or deny or conceal our history?”

Your paper is so hypocritical! Just my view!

Delray Beach

Our standards for America are higher

We all can agree that racism is wrong and that we still have a ways to go to eliminate any vestiges of the old thinking. The thing that bothers me about your and many other articles like yours is that you forget that we are not the only ones that did unspeakable things to minorities in their country. This is not a justification for any past deeds that we have done, but you and many others make it seem as though we are the only ones in world history to mistreat a group of people who are different.

What you do not do is hold those populations to the same standards as you expect of Americans.

We do not lambaste the present countries for the mistreatment of past generations. How about the British in their treatment of India? How about the Japanese for the mistreatment of China? How about South Africans for their treatment of Blacks? And how about the Germans for their slaughter of the Jews? I could go on, but you get the point.

We know what they did, but they do not do it anymore, they know it is wrong and regardless what many people believe, we also have moved past those past indiscretions. Yes, we have problems — some Blacks are mistreated by some cops, and we know that should be stopped. But to write an article about lynching serves no purpose but to inflame an already volatile situation. How about writing of how far we have come?

Coconut Creek

Caruso