For Florida House, choose O’Connor in 82nd, Roth in 85th
Six years ago, attorney Edward O’Connor returned to his longtime Jupiter home after several years in California and was shocked by the changes to Florida during his absence.
“I didn’t like it,” he says — meaning everything from lawmakers’ refusal to ban assault-style rifles after the Parkland mass shooting to their lax policing of pollution feeding blue-green algae and red tide.
“I just hope the people wake up — and not keep voting Republican, year after year after year,” he told The Post Editorial Board. Now the Democrat wants to take that conviction to Tallahassee as the representative from conservative-leaning House District 82, which includes Martin County and Palm Beach County’s northeast corner.
The Post endorses O’Connor over the three-term incumbent, MaryLynn Magar, a self-described “strong conservative” Republican whose website boast “I don’t vote for any tax or fee increases” is too rigid an attitude for sound governance. Magar declined to be interviewed by the Editorial Board.
O’Connor says he’ll fight to stop polluters and to deter Tallahassee from interfering in county zoning issues. He’s for gun safety, higher pay for teachers and expanding Medicaid.
In House District 85, which extends from North Palm Beach and Palm Beach Gardens west beyond to The Acreage, we endorse Rick Roth for a second term.
The Republican from Loxahatchee who heads Roth Farms in Belle Glade is pro-business and pro-environment. He has worked with Democrats on issues involving adoptions and child-protective services, and he takes a realistic view of the challenges of sea-level rise.
His Democratic foe, Ellen Baker, is a special-education teacher at William T. Dwyer High who would fight to increase teacher pay, cut back on required tests and eliminate funding formulas that favor for-profit charter schools. Her strongest argument for election is that she would be the rare working teacher in a Legislature whose decisions are so crucial to education. But that is not sufficient, in our view, to oust Roth, who has built relationships needed to be productive for his district.
For the Florida House, The Post endorses O’Connor in District 82 and Roth in District 85.