{"id":4363,"date":"2026-06-16T14:04:52","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T14:04:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4363"},"modified":"2026-06-16T14:04:52","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T14:04:52","slug":"editorial-dont-sleep-on-primary-races-especially-in-florida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4363","title":{"rendered":"Editorial: Don\u2019t sleep on primary races, especially in Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
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Florida will soon elect a new governor. Voters have lots of options.<\/p>\n

An astonishing number of candidates \u2014 24 \u2014 reached the starting line by Friday\u2019s deadline when they qualified for the ballot. There are 11 Republicans, six Democrats, six with no party affiliation and one Libertarian.<\/p>\n

Read more 1 Central Florida food truck shut down last week after health inspections<\/a><\/p>\n

Twenty-three of them are destined to lose \u2014 most in the first round, the primary on Aug. 18 when all of the Republicans and Democrats will appear on their party\u2019s ballots. (Minor-party candidates and those with no party affiliation, such as local voting-rights advocate Desmond Meade,\u00a0will appear only in November).<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s hope voters show the same level of interest and enthusiasm by studying the candidates and showing up to vote.<\/p>\n

Gubernatorial matchups<\/h4>\n

Among GOP candidates to replace Gov. Ron DeSantis, U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds is the clear front-runner right now. But there are other well-known Republicans in the hunt, including former House Speaker Paul Renner of Palm Coast and Lt. Gov. Jay Collins. The wild card might be James Fishback, a 31-year-old investor who\u2019s making a splash on social media. The other seven GOP candidates lack the money or experience to really contend.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, Florida\u2019s Republicans probably won\u2019t have a chance to view their options side-by-side. Donalds and the state party cancelled a debate tentatively set for later this month, saying only Donalds had cleared the high bar for participation after Fishback announced he\u2019d appear at a different, unsanctioned debate in July. That drew\u00a0 a protest from DeSantis, who is absolutely right: Voters deserve to see these candidates stand up next to each other, especially since three of the four have the kind of experience in Florida government that earns them the right to be taken seriously.<\/p>\n

This is also something GOP leaders may live to regret. As several recent races have shown, there seems to be an appetite for candidates who have little experience but big, aggressive ideas. That could work to Fishback\u2019s advantage. The problem with\u00a0 Fishback\u2019s ideas is that many spring from\u00a0 rage-baiting rhetoric that has little to do with Florida\u2019s current reality\u2014 but could attract people who might not otherwise vote.<\/p>\n

In an 11-person, winner-take-all primary, that might be enough to change the outcome.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Democrats have one clear front-runner: former U.S. Rep. David Jolly. Days after his only serious primary challenger, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings, quit the race to fight recently diagnosed cancer, Jolly chose his running mate: Gwen Graham\u2026<\/p>\n

Also a former member of Congress, she ran for governor in 2018, and narrowly lost the Democratic nomination to Andrew Gillum.<\/p>\n

Graham knows how important primary elections can be in Florida. A primary, then a runoff\u00a0catapulted her father, Bob Graham, to the Governor\u2019s Mansion for eight years, followed by 18 years in the United States Senate.<\/p>\n

Ever since Gwen Graham lost in 2018, people in political circles have speculated whether she would have beaten Ron DeSantis in November 2018 if she had been the nominee.<\/p>\n

Read more Class of 2026: Orange County\u2019s valedictorians & salutatorians<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll never know. But we do know this: Gillum, a candidate with broad appeal but obvious flaws, came within four-tenths of a point of becoming the first Black governor in Florida history.<\/p>\n

The road to November<\/h4>\n

As we noted in Sunday\u2019s editorial, surprises\u00a0often flip the narrative in\u00a0primary elections. In the Republican primary for governor in 2018, Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam looked like an early shoo-in. He was trounced by the little-known DeSantis, who had President Trump\u2019s endorsement.<\/p>\n

Perhaps because primaries often are not definitive, voters don\u2019t think they are important. That\u2019s\u00a0wrong. (period)<\/p>\n

In statewide races, for Congress and the state Legislature, they often are nominating contests, winnowing the field and setting the stage for a Republican versus a Democrat in November.\u00a0In several nonpartisan Orange County races, they will narrow the group of candidates to the top two vote-getters, who will face off in November.<\/p>\n

The redrawn congressional map means that\u00a0more than\u00a0400,000 (comma not period)\u00a0voters now live in a different congressional district, according to\u00a0local\u00a0supervisors\u00a0of\u00a0elections.\u00a0Some will be assigned to vote in different precincts.<\/p>\n

Everyone so affected\u00a0must receive a new voter ID card before the primary. When the card arrives, keep it. Don\u2019t throw it out.<\/p>\n

In the weeks to come, the Sentinel Editorial Board will interview candidates in many of the key primary races, and we will recommend candidates up and down the ballot, including for school board, county commission, state legislature and circuit and county judge.<\/p>\n

We will do the same for the general election cycle in November, when the stakes are even higher. But no matter what anyone says, remember: Primaries matter. Be sure you vote.<\/p>\n

The Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board includes Executive Editor Roger Simmons, Opinion Editor Krys Fluker and Viewpoints Editor Jay Reddick. The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Executive Editor Gretchen Day-Bryant, Editorial Page Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Editorial Page Editor Dan Sweeney and editorial writers Pat Beall and Martin Dyckman. Send letters to insight@orlandosentinel.com.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more Season\u2019s 1st tropical storm could form in Gulf, hurricane center says<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Editorial Boards survey the political landscape as the primary election ballot takes shape.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3531,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editorials","category-opinion"],"yoast_head":"\nEditorial: Don\u2019t sleep on primary races, especially in Florida - Orlando Relocation Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4363\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Editorial: Don\u2019t sleep on primary races, especially in Florida - Orlando Relocation Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Editorial Boards survey the political landscape as the primary election ballot takes shape.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4363\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Orlando Relocation Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-16T14:04:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4363#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4363\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/47d95744296542489ff5c4bd403450f8\"},\"headline\":\"Editorial: Don\u2019t sleep on primary races, especially in Florida\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-16T14:04:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4363\"},\"wordCount\":878,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4363#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/a4602080a27f7a5b1f9498699d169d81.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Editorials\",\"Opinion\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4363#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4363\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4363\",\"name\":\"Editorial: Don\u2019t sleep on primary races, especially in Florida - 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