Now that the qualifying period has ended, we can officially enter what will likely be a tumultuous election season on the local, state and national levels, because, after all, aren’t they always tumultuous now?
Aren’t we all looking forward to the candidate forums, television ads and endless mud-slinging flyers clogging our mailboxes? Yeah, I’m not either. Yet here we are. I’m curious what the turnout will be in this non-presidential election.
According to the University of Florida Election Lab 66.7% of Florida’s eligible voters cast ballots in the 2024 presidential election. Incredibly that was higher than the national average. But there is typically a significant dropoff for midterm elections. In 2022, only 48.1% of Florida voters went to the polls.
Besides turnout, there are so many question to be asked this year.
Will the Republicans retain control of the house? Will Democrats wrestle control away from President Trump? What about here in Florida? After eight years of Gov. Ron DeSantis basically having carte blanche, who will take over the reins in Tallahassee? Will anything really change?
What about the property tax issue? Voters this Fall will decide whether to adopt an amendment basically exempting homestead properties from paying property tax. Sounds great for homeowners. But opponents of the proposed amendment say local governments will struggle for revenue needed to pay for core needs.
Maybe even more important for homeowners of the issue of home insurance and skyrocketing rates.
According to a recent piece in the Miami Herald, “Florida homeowners’ insurance premiums rose nearly double the national average between 2021 and 2025. Across the United States, homeowners insurance premiums increased an average of 38 percent, while in Florida, premiums shot up 75 percent during the same period.”
Can any candidate solve that one?
And so that brings us to the Question of the Week.
What is the most important issue to you this election season?
You can scan the QR code that is on the print edition page or go to https://www.floridatoday.com/opinions-columns/. Please leave a comment telling us why you voted the way you did. In order for your comment or email to be published on our website and in next week’s print edition, you must include your first and last name and please include your town/city of residence in the body of your comment. You can also shoot me an email with “ELECTION” in the subject line. I look forward to reading your responses
And as always, thanks for participating.
Contact Torres at jtorres@floridatoday.com. You can follow him on X @johnalbertorres. Florida video editor Rob Landers contributed to this report.Support local journalism and become a subscriber. Visit floridatoday.com/subscribe
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: What do you care about most this election season?
Reporting by John A. Torres, Florida Today / Florida Today
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By John A. Torres, Florida Today | USA TODAY Network
