Candidates for Brevard County’s 2020 nonpartisan city and special district elections probably won’t have to declare their party affiliations after all.
State Rep. Randy Fine (R-Melbourne Beach) had proposed a local bill to make that happen, following county Democratic leaders’ November success in helping their candidates win eight nonpartisan races to various city councils.
Since Democratic leaders already have identified their candidates in nonpartisan races, he said, voters might as well know all the candidates’ parties.
But Fine failed on Jan. 15 to get enough votes from his colleagues in the Brevard County Legislative Delegation to file the bill. “I got a tie,” he said after the meeting. “But according to Florida House of Representatives rules, a tie doesn’t win.”
The delegation includes every member of the Florida House or Florida Senate who represents any part of Brevard County in Tallahassee. The delegation meets each year prior to the opening of session to hear concerns from local residents, and to consider the priorities of local governments.
Voting with Fine in the 3-3 tie were state Reps. Thad Altman (R-Indialantic) and Tyler Sirois (R-Merritt Island). But they were blocked by state Sens. Debbie Mayfield (R-Melbourne), Tom Wright (R-Port Orange) and Rep. Rene Plasencia (R-Titusville).
Plasencia, whose district includes part of Orange County, said he has seen Democrats there call for nonpartisan city elections and then for partisan elections, based on their gain or loss in numbers. It’s all a “gamesmanship” issue, he said.
“This is going to keep switching around. It’s cyclical,” he said. “But we should be concerned, not how one party can beat another, but how they can come together so there’s not such a divide.” Some supporters in the audience said voters rarely have the time to fully educate themselves on the conservative or liberal leanings of a candidate in a nonpartisan election.
Fine said his bill would have remedied that by having county Supervisor of Elections Lori Scott place little Ds for Democrat, Rs for Republican, NPAs for no party affiliation or third-party abbreviations next to candidates’ names on city ballots.
“So if a person can’t find out any other information on a candidate, at least they’d know what his platform stands for. That’s basic background,” said GOP State Committeewoman Cheryl Lankes.
Mayfield, however, said candidates are often urged in various areas to join the Republican or Democratic party simply because of which one has the majority. “The ‘R,’ ‘D’ or ‘I’ doesn’t always mean how the person is going to vote,” she said. “It just might mean how they (expect to) get elected.”
Cocoa Mayor Jake Williams Jr. said voters in the county or its cities – not state lawmakers – should make any decision about nonpartisan elections. And there are no party solutions to the kinds of problems a city faces, he said.
“When a resident flushes the toilet, they don’t care about the political party of the City Council. They just want the waste to flush properly,” he said, reading from a statement. “When they call police or fire, they want public safety to show up. There is no Republican or Democratic manner in which to handle public safety.”
Sirois, however, took issue with that.
“Party affiliation would let you know how (candidates) would prioritize the potholes, where they would fit on the list of things that need to be done,” he said.
Stacey Patel, chairwoman of the county Democratic Executive Committee, faulted the bill as a “transparent attempt” to bring national politics to the municipal level.
She said Republicans could have endorsed GOP candidates in nonpartisan elections, the way she did for Democrats.
“Not as well,” said Fine, who last month called for county Republican Chairman Rick Lacey’s ouster for failing to match Patel’s level of candidate support.
