Revealing scenes from Broward campaign trail

FORT LAUDERDALE — Let’s hit the campaign trail.

One of the most interesting races is for the House District 100 seat in northeast Broward, the county’s only legislative seat seen as winnable for a Republican.

Two-term Rep. Chip LaMarca, R-Lighthouse Point, faces another challenge from lawyer and former diplomat Linda Thompson Gonzalez of LauderdaleBy-the-Sea. LaMarca easily defeated Thompson Gonzalez two years ago. (This newspaper backed LaMarca two years ago, but endorsed Thompson Gonzalez Friday).

To defeat LaMarca, who has a history of local support, Thompson Gonzalez needs voters to focus on his record. One of her issues is LaMarca’s vote for a restrictive 15-week abortion ban with no exception for rape or incest (HB 5). The vote could hurt LaMarca with women voters, especially.

It doesn’t help when Democrats try to make LaMarca look good.

Thompson Gonzalez supporters are pointedly asking why the all-Democratic County Commission is giving LaMarca a public forum to take credit for a state grant to the Nancy J. Cotterman Center, a respected Fort Lauderdale organization that treats rape victims, among other services. LaMarca sponsored the $306,000 grant in the House (HB 2751), which will expand services to victims of sexual violence, child abuse and human trafficking, according to legislative documents.

“It’s created a little bit of a stir because of his vote,” Broward Mayor Michael Udine said.

LaMarca’s ability to bring money home is one of his selling points as a candidate for reelection. Udine said county staff arranged for LaMarca’s visit, and that two Democratic senators, Lauren Book and Jason Pizzo, would also be invited to share the spotlight Tuesday. “Hopefully, that calms people down,” Udine said.

Endless search for voters

The days are long and lonely on the trail, and candidates will gladly speak to voters wherever they find them.

At Fort Lauderdale’s Beach Community Center, the Bermuda Riviera Homeowners’ Association invited District 1 city commission candidates to appear Thursday night. Two showed up; two didn’t. John Charles Herbst and Chris Williams spoke and took questions from a crowd of about 25 people.

This is the civic heartbeat of a thriving city: Engaged homeowners’ associations. There are nearly two dozen in this district alone.

Voters, some of them boat owners, questioned a new waterway ordinance and the uncertain future of the Galleria mall site. But what got them fired up was the possibility of increasing building heights to 500 feet high or nearly 50 stories outside the downtown core, for projects that seek Planned Development District (PDD) zoning. The current code caps heights at 300 feet.

Williams and Herbst, both well-informed, stuck to serious neighborhood issues and not politics.

Williams, 55, a lifelong city resident (“... I was born at Holy Cross,” he said) and a longtime civic leader in the Coral Ridge neighborhood, addressed homelessness and panhandling, both growing concerns. He spoke for “safer streets, limited development and smart development.”

Herbst, 58, a former city auditor fired early this year, cited his accounting skills at a time of sky-high inflation and that no other candidate can match his knowledge in a year when three of the five seats at City Hall will turn over.

“I have been through 800 city commission meetings,” Herbst said. “Nobody else can say that.”

‘Not going to make up things’

At the Sun Sentinel, we’re in Week 4 of interviewing candidates online, a format we began in the early days of the pandemic.

Republican House candidate Vincent Parlatore of Pembroke Pines deserves credit for showing up in a year when many GOP hopefuls boycott forums, even those by nonpartisan interest groups such as Tiger Bay Clubs and the League of Women Voters. Boycotting respected groups in search of answers is offensive behavior by candidates, and voters should respond accordingly.

Parlatore is challenging Democratic Rep. Marie Woodson of Hollywood in South Broward’s overwhelmingly Democratic House District 105. A part of what gives a candidate credibility is being prepared — especially when challenging an incumbent.

So we asked Parlatore: How much is the state budget? “I’m not going to make up things, because I’m not 100% sure,” he said. (He did know the state has a record $20 billion surplus, but a 10-second Google search would provide the answer.)

Asked the same question, Woodson didn’t hesitate: $109.1 billion.

Shaking her head, Woodson said: “He decided to come against me when he doesn’t even know how much the state budget is. It baffles me.”

It baffles us too. On such uninformed answers, endorsements sometimes turn.