The flag of Collier County, Fla.
Aug. 7, 2024
A war on competence has been waged in the United States for the past eight years and nowhere has it been pursued with more intensity than in Collier County, Fla.
In this year’s primary election, the citizens of Collier County will decide what they value more: expertise, experience, and integrity or anger, fury and fanaticism.
Early voting begins this Saturday, Aug. 10 and runs one week until next Saturday, Aug. 17. It culminates on Election Day, Aug. 20. A full list of early polling places can be seen here.
The issue of ability and fitness for office is one that transcends party or political philosophy. Do people want their local government and school board run well or badly? Do they value people who have dedicated their lives to public service or people who have never before handled public affairs?
The dividing line in making these endorsements is not political party or ideology; rather, it is competence versus non-competence, or uncertain competence or, in the case of at least one current officeholder, proven incompetence.
That is not to say there aren’t larger issues at stake as well: Do voters want to maintain the Bill of Rights’ wall of separation between church and state in their government and schools or allow religious indoctrination and dogma to reign? Do they want public health decisions made on the basis of science and research or suspicion and ignorance? Do they want to move forward in time or retreat into an imagined past?
Since its launch in 2018, The Paradise Progressive has argued that endorsing candidates is the duty of any publication or media outlet that regularly and responsibly covers elections and those who seek office.
That especially holds true today.
And so, in keeping with that principle, this article presents endorsements for candidates on the ballot on Aug. 20 and the reasoning behind them.
What is unique is that these endorsements cover both the Republican and Democratic primaries, since some offices will be determined in the closed primaries of their respective parties (and since readers are members of both parties).
This article does not endorse in all primary races but does provide some notes and observations on the candidates in the races where it does not take a position.
As its name implies, The Paradise Progressive approaches its coverage from a particular political perspective. For thorough, unbiased and neutral information about all these races and candidates, see Sparker’s Soapbox, whose author, Sandy Parker, does an outstanding job providing a comprehensive and objective overview.
These endorsements cover Collier County. A subsequent article will cover endorsements in Lee County. They are in the order that they appear on ballots.
US Senate
Republican nominee for US Senator
There is no endorsement for a Republican nominee. The incumbent, Sen. Rick Scott, has repeatedly demonstrated egregious incompetence in ways that harmed the state and people he represents. He has also called for sunsetting the Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid programs on which many Southwest Floridians depend.
(For more on Scott’s record, see: “Rick Scott meets the Peter Principle” and “Rick Scott, already in a hole, digs deeper.”)
Democratic nominee for US Senator
Endorsement: Debbie Mucarsel-Powell
Debbie Mucarsel-Powell is a committed, articulate, energetic activist who has served in the US House of Representatives. She can be expected to do an outstanding job representing Florida and all its citizens in the US Senate.
(For a profile of Mucarsel-Powell, see: “Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, ready for the Senate and on a roll.”)
Collier County
Property appraiser
Endorsement: Vickie Downs
Downs is the incumbent Property Appraiser and has served in that office in one capacity or another since 1994. She has demonstrated competence and a steady hand, making incremental improvements to the office that will continue if re-elected.
(For additional coverage of another candidate, Jim Molenaar, see the article: “From education to enrichment: Sweetheart deals, feeding frenzies and Florida’s war on learning.”)
Supervisor of Elections
Endorsement: Melissa Blazier
Blazier has the experience, knowledge and—most of all—integrity to continue to conduct clean, honest and accurately counted elections in Collier County.
This position has turned into one of the most hotly contested local races. It has been extensively covered in these pages, most notably and comprehensively in “This is what integrity looks like: Melissa Blazier for Supervisor of Elections.” (All articles related to Melissa Blazier can be seen here.)
The judges (on all ballots)
Endorsements:
Erik Leontiev (20th Judicial Circuit, Group 6)
Elizabeth Krier (20th Judicial Circuit, Group 28)
It’s very difficult to render judgments on judges who are supposed to make objective, unbiased decisions based on the law on a case-by-case basis.
In this instance both sitting judges have records unblemished by accusations of ethical lapses or improper behavior. Nothing in their records indicates any unfitness for office or reasons for discontinuation of their service.
Krier briefly came into political prominence in Southwest Florida from 2020 to 2022 when she adjudicated a lawsuit brought by congressional candidate Casey Askar against Rep. Byron Donalds (R-19-Fla.). Askar charged that Donalds had defamed him but Krier ruled that he hadn’t done so with malice and Askar lost the case. Her ruling appeared sound and reasonable. (The full story and coverage of the ruling can be read at “The Donalds Dossier: Putin’s pal; an address mess; and a legal laurel—Updated.”)
School Board (non-partisan)
Endorsements:
Stephanie Lucarelli (District 2)
Erick Carter (District 4)
Both of these incumbent candidates have demonstrated expertise, care and commitment to the education of Collier County students. Both have served responsibly and conscientiously and attended to the nuts and bolts of the county schools. Both are rational, reasonable and sensible. Their service is informed with the experience of office and their own backgrounds.
Lucarelli was a professional teacher before moving to Naples in 2002. She taught in Collier County schools as a guest teacher and volunteered in a variety of capacities. She has a long and proven interest in education.
Erick Carter’s interest in education traces back to his experience as a ballroom dance instructor and training at Lorenzo Walker Technical College.
Their opponents are typical of an uninformed, ideologically-driven opposition threatening sensible, secular Florida public education that prioritizes the best interests of Collier County students.
Notes on other races (without endorsements)
US House District 26
Incumbent Republican Mario Diaz-Balart is running for his 12th term in this district, which stretches from Hialeah and Doral in Miami-Dade County in the east to inland Collier County, roughly along I-75 in the west and includes the towns of Immokalee and Ave Maria.
Diaz-Balart has been in office so long he is the longest-serving member of all of Florida’s congressional representatives. He was first elected to the US House in 2002. He has risen to chair the powerful Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs, which oversees all US foreign aid programs.
He is running against opponents who have no prior legislative or political experience.
Florida House District 81
Florida House District 81 runs along the coast in Collier County from Immokalee Road in Naples to Goodland south of Marco Island. Its western boundary is I-75, Collier Blvd., and Rt. 41.
The candidates are Yvette Benarroch and Greg Folley.
Benarroch is co-owner of a landscaping company with her husband. She’s a US Air Force veteran. She heads the Collier County chapter of Moms for Liberty. She claims to have previously worked on political campaigns for Ron DeSantis and Byron Donalds.
Greg Folley, a retired corporate executive and lawyer, has served on the Marco Island City Council since 2020, worked on the White House staff under President Ronald Reagan and has served on numerous corporate and charitable boards. Folley has far more management and government experience than Benarroch.
Collier County Republican State Committeeman
Douglas Rankin is running for State Committeeman. He’s a longstanding, traditional Republican who was very active in the county Party and served in the committeeman position from 2008 to 2020. In 2020 he was ousted as State Committeeman by Francis Alfred “Alfie” Oakes III, who was riding high on his defiance of COVID-19 precautions and county public health measures.
Rankin is running against Frank Schwerin, a retired doctor. Schwerin is endorsed by Oakes.
Collier County Republican State Committeewoman
JoAnn DeBartolo, the incumbent, is an actively pro-Trump, long-time conservative Republican activist.
Her opponent, Kristina Heuser, a lawyer, twice drafted anti-federal nullification ordinances of dubious legality, one of which passed the Collier County Board of Commissioners, and which may ultimately harm the county in unexpected ways. She was personally endorsed by Oakes.
Liberty lives in light
© 2024 by David Silverberg