Today’s entry: Do you think there’s anything to the claims that despite setting the date for the special election to replace Alcee, DeSantis is slow walking?
Bottom Line: This is a story where I can report, and you’ll need to decide. Governor DeSantis certainly isn’t going to tell you he’s slow-walking the special election. In fact, at a Tuesday press conference, he said, "There’s a lot that goes into it, I know there will be a lot of folks that want to run for it. So hopefully that gives them enough time to be able to get on the ballot and do whatever they need to do to be competitive". DeSantis also said Florida’s Secretary of State Laurel Lee, coordinated with election Supervisor Joe Scott in Broward and Wendy Link in Palm Beach County, the two counties which must facilitate the special election.
Governor DeSantis set November 2nd as the date for the primary and January 11th for the general election. What was the input provided to the state by at least one of the two participating counties? According to a report by Florida Politics, Wendy Link recommended a primary date of September 14th and a general election of November 9th. Also, regarding Governor DeSantis’s suggestion that there’s a lot of candidate interest in this race so he wanted to give them time to do whatever they need to do to be competitive.
Well, he’s right about the high level of interest. Already 13 candidates have declared for the election including 11 Democrats and 2 Republicans. That'd seem to suggest that those numerous candidates aren’t requiring more time. So how do the dates compare to previously scheduled special elections?
The last two Congressional special elections involved the seats held by Bill Young, a Republican, who died in 2013, and Robert Wexler, a Democrat, who accepted a post within the Obama Administration and was succeeded by Ted Deutch in a special election. The total length of time between the vacancy and general election in Wexler’s seat was four months and ten days. In the case of Young’s replacement.Three months and three weeks. So yeah, at nine months and five days from the time of Alcee’s passing until the date of the general election – there’s room for skepticism about the timing.
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