Primary importance: Get to know your Broward ballot

Nothing in Broward history compares to this election. The only other one I’ve covered that had similar logistical challenges and as much big news was that 1992 election.

A large, diverse field of candidates makes up 20 competitive races in an upcoming Broward primary election that feels like a potential turning point in the county’s history.

In the midst of a public health emergency and a historic national reckoning over racism, Democrats can overhaul the county’s criminal justice leadership in crowded contests for state attorney, sheriff and public defender. Republicans, rarely relevant in Broward primaries, can impact several primary races open to all voters, including a countywide vote for court clerk, because all of the candidates are Democrats, with no sham write-in to create phony competition.

So, Republicans, don’t be surprised when you see “DEM” on your ballots. It’s not a mistake, it’s an open primary. Nonpartisan voters can vote in those races, too.

Depending on where they live, Democrats will find 20 separate races on their primary ballot for Congress, state attorney, public defender, state Senate and House, clerk, sheriff, supervisor of elections, circuit judge (5 races), county judge (3), county commission and school board (2). The number of races on the Aug. 18 ballot is another reason to vote by mail, which is heavily promoted across the state to avoid crowds at the polls during the coronavirus pandemic.

On this midsummer Broward ballot, Democrats could elect or nominate up to 10 state legislators — three senators and seven House members — and it’s a diverse crowd that includes unabashed progressives demanding sweeping social and economic change. Steven Meza, a 21-year-old FAU student, is one of four Democrats in central Broward’s District 33 Senate race. In nearby House District 95, challenger Jasmen Rogers-Shaw has raised more than twice as much money as firstterm Rep. Anika Omphroy, D-Lauderdale Lakes, one of five House Democrats who voted for a parental-consent abortion law.

Elsewhere on the ballot, the county is assured of a new state attorney (in a field of eight Democrats), public defender and supervisor of elections.

Broward’s size and sheer multitude of political districts keep ballot printers humming. There are 73 ballot variations for Democrats, 31 for Republicans and 15 for nonpartisan and minor-party voters, who can vote in judicial and school board races and open primaries. The ballots are printed in English, Spanish and Creole, and will take up two pages (one sheet, front and back).

The ballot layout mess of two years ago in the Rick Scott-Bill Nelson race, which may have cost Democrats a U.S. Senate seat, can’t possibly be repeated.

Supervisor of Elections Pete Antonacci circulated drafts of all 119 ballot designs to county commissioners, state lawmakers, chairs of both political parties and the city clerk in Pembroke Pines, which has a district commission race and city-wide vote on whether to remove red-light cameras. The proofreading exercise is intended to avoid another layout fiasco before it happens.

“Apologies in advance for the compressed time available for community review,” Antonacci wrote to them, but he said it’s the result of deadlines in state election laws. He included his cell phone number so people can call him with concerns.

On this ballot, 20 years after the most chaotic and contentious vote-counting marathon in U.S. history, the 2000 recount, there’s a Democratic candidate for supervisor of elections whose name really is “Chad” (Klitzman), who has five opponents. A school board hopeful, Joyce Bryan, appears on the ballot with the nickname “Jersey Girl.” Joisy? What exit?

There’s also a Republican candidate for sheriff who starts out with high name recognition even though he’s a political novice. His name: Navarro. Retired sheriff ’s deputy Casimiro “Cazi” Navarro is using the slogan “A name you know, recognize and trust.”

He’s referring, of course, to the late Sheriff Nick Navarro, who last appeared on a Broward ballot in 1992 — and lost his bid for a third term when his fellow Republicans abandoned him, and his freespending ways, in the primary.

Nothing in Broward history compares to this election. The only other one I’ve covered that had similar logistical challenges and as much big news was that 1992 election.

It was a redistricting year with all new districts, and the Sept. 1 primary was about a week after Hurricane Andrew, which devastated parts of Miami-Dade County and destroyed voting locations. Dade postponed its primary by a week, but Broward stayed on schedule. That caused a lot of confusion, because MiamiDade’s postponement was so much in the news. The politicking went on, awkwardly, as people rebuilt their lives.

Not only did Navarro’s glitzy eight-year reign end with a stunning defeat in that 1992 primary, but there were other notable results.

Alcee Hastings became the first African-American to represent Florida in Congress since Reconstruction. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, at 26, became the youngest woman elected to the Legislature to that point. In November, a record 83 percent of Broward voters turned out and many helped elect a new president: Bill Clinton. It was just the second time since 1948 that a Democratic presidential candidate carried Broward.

A lot of change happened that year. Maybe this year it will again.