Danny McAuliffe
Add a lack of representation in the Florida House to the list of woes for many affected by Hurricane Michael.
The general special election date for three open seats in the Florida House is June 18, well after the sine die finish to the state’s 60-day lawmaking session, which begins March 5. The primary election for those seats is April 9.
Gov. Ron DeSantis set the dates last week. The former incumbents — Democrat Jared Moskowitz along with Republicans Halsey Beshears and Danny Burgess — had all been picked for top spots in the new administration.
Assuming their successors are not determined until the general special election, constituents in those districts will not have a representative voice in the House this Session.
For the electorate of House District 7 — Beshears’ old seat — that could be a problem.
The sprawling, 10-county territory makes up a swath of Hurricane Michael’s path. The nearly Category 5 storm made landfall on Oct. 10.
A spokeswoman for the Department of State, which coordinated with DeSantis to schedule the election dates, said in an email that the “special election was set for the earliest possible date given that special elections must follow all general election laws and timelines.”
According to Florida law: “… a minimum of 2 weeks between each election” is required for special primary and general elections.
As well, “The dates fixed for qualifying shall allow a minimum of 14 days between the last day of qualifying and the special primary election.”
The qualifying period for the open seats is 8 a.m. Feb. 13 to noon Feb. 14. Those dates have to be noticed in a newspaper at least 10 days before the deadline.
So why April 9 and June 18?
Other factors tie into setting the election dates, according to the Department.
“For example, Supervisors must send vote-by-mail ballots to absent stateside and overseas military and overseas citizens no later than 45 days before each election,” wrote Sarah Revell, communications director for the Department of State, in an email.
“The Department also consulted with the Supervisors of Elections in the respective counties on the timing of the special elections as they are the entity that must successfully execute the special elections.”
The lone Democrat lined up for House District 7 took to Facebook to criticize the election dates.
“The people of HD 7 deserved full representation during the crucial hearings and budget discussions on hurricane and disaster relief,” wrote Ryan Terrell, who announced a bid for the seat late last year. “To deny many of these counties a Representative in the House, shows that the leadership of our state is only paying lip service to our needs in the Big Bend area.”
Asked for clarification, Terrell didn’t blame DeSantis. Instead, he suggested Beshears should’ve exited the Legislature earlier, which would’ve allowed former Gov. Rick Scott or DeSantis to schedule the election sooner.
DeSantis announced the hiring of Beshears to lead the Department of Business and Professional Regulation in early December. Beshears resigned a month later.
Terrell said that if Beshears had left the Legislature immediately, or even “weeks” earlier, the seat might’ve been filled for at least some point during the Legislative Session.
“We could’ve had steps taken that when the moment we got seated we would’ve been able to plug into the process,” Terrell said.
Hurricane Michael is a priority for all candidates lined up to compete in the special election for House District 7.
The two Republicans — Jason Shoaf and Mike Watkins — have promised to focus on storm relief.
Watkins, the CEO of child-welfare group Big Bend Community Based Care, said he’ll be “trying to work very closely with our local delegation and our local leaders to make sure we are in lockstep when those decisions are made.”
In a prepared statement following the special election announcement, Shoaf said the “region has had more than its fair share of natural disasters.”
“But the people of our community are resilient and determined, and I know we’ll come back stronger than ever,” he added. “As state representative, I’ll do absolutely everything I can to support recovery efforts.”
Democratic state Sen. Bill Montford of Tallahassee, whose district overlaps HD 7, had said in December that he was “hopeful” the vacancy be filled by the time Session starts.
“If not, we’re losing a very strong voice in Rep. Beshears — his voice will be hard to replace anyway,” Montford said after a meeting of the Leon County delegation.
Now, whoever that replacement is may have to wait till next year to make any real difference.
