There was an election today - I voted.

My Tee Shirt is not badly stained -  it's a trick of the light

Florida House of Representatives District 72


Last September the incumbent representative Alex Miller (R)  resigned.  Under State Law (or the State Constitution) Governor Rick Scott called for a special election to fill the vacant seat. The special election is slated for February 13th 2018.

The local Republicans have  nominated without contest James (I don't want to talk to the press or attend public forums) Buchanan, 

 He is a son of Vernon (money bags) Buchanan (R) our local Representative  in the national House of Representative.

The local Libertarians have nominated  (also without contest) Alison Foxhall, well known to Libertarians in Florida.

The local Democratic Party could not agree on a single nominee. That's why today we had a Restricted Primary Election (open to registered Democrats alone).  (Some States have Open Primaries in which persons can vote irrespective of party affiliation).

The winner of today's Democratic Party primary will face Buchanan and Foxhall in the February special election.

Today we Democratic Party members had to choose between Margaret Good, a traditional mainstream democrat (think Hillary Clinton), and Ruta Jounari a progressive  democrat (think Bernie Sanders). 

I refuse to disclose how I voted.

Primary elections are good in that they enable Jane and John Doe to have a voice in the nomination processes (which vary from State to State).

But they are very expensive to mount , and they attract only the most die hard of voters. (It's most likely that only about 20% of registered Sarasota Democrats will have voted in today's Primary.

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This little lesson in Civics originated in a pleasant  conversation I had with a very nice young Clerk /Cashier at our local Publix Supermarket, who was intrigued by my "I Voted" sticker.

She was unaware that we had a Primary election today. Indeed she had never heard of Primary elections

We had a gentle conversation about civics, elections and the like. I hope that I conveyed clear and correct information to her, whiteout being patronising or pompous.

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