Former Florida Governor Rick Scott’s draconian changes to the unemployment system have ruined untold numbers of lives and caused immeasurable suffering. We learned from a South Florida Sun-Sentinel editorial that several proponents of the 2011 law which decimated worker benefits are still in office and/or running for re-election.
According to the Sun-Sentinel, “Every Democrat in the Legislature in 2011 who’s still in office voted no. The final Senate and House roll call votes on HB 7005 are here and here… The Senate Democratic leader in 2011, Sen. Nan Rich of Weston, now a Broward County commissioner, called the Republicans’ treatment of workers ‘a moral disaster.’
“Two years later, Scott and lawmakers separately created the online filing system that still fails Florida families…. We’re waiting to hear their solutions to a crisis they created.”
“All [the politicians who voted to decimate Florida’s unemployment system] are Republicans…We’re waiting to hear their solutions to a crisis they created.” — @SunSentinel #FloridaUnemployment #VoteBlue #DemCastFL
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2020 Election Endorsements
We don’t think a reasonable system of unemployment benefits should be a partisan issue, but in Florida, it clearly is. Here are our recommendations for some of the most notable races. Because current Republican lawmakers refused to convene a special session of the legislature to deal with unemployment this year, we advocate voting for the Democrat in the race if your district isn’t specifically listed.
| DISTRICT | candidate ENDORSements |
|---|---|
| SENATE | |
| Senate 1 Escambia Santa Rosa | Karen Butler (D), decorated U.S. veteran, is running against Doug Broxson (R), who voted for Rick Scott’s bill. |
| Senate 9 Seminole | Patricia Sigman (D) labor and employment lawyer, is running to fill the seat left vacant by David Simmons (R), who voted for the bill. Her opponent, Jason Brodeur (R), was a state House representative in 2011 who also voted for Scott’s bill. |
| Senate 17 Brevard Indian River | Scott Fretwell (D), member of the Florida Young Democrats, is running against Debbie Mayfield (R), who voted for the bill. |
| Senate 25 St. Lucie Martin Palm Beach | Corinna Robinson (D), is a single mother and homeland security professional running against Gayle Harrell (R), who voted for the bill. |
| Senate 27 Lee | Rachel Brown (D), is an environmental activist running to replace Lizbeth Benacquisto (R), who voted for the bill and endorses Brown’s opponent, Ray Rodrigues (R). |
| Senate 39 Miami-Dade Monroe | Javier Fernández (D), is currently a state Representative in House district 114. He’s running to replace Anitere Flores (R) in the Senate, who voted for the bill and endorses challenger Ana Maria Rodriguez (R). |
| HOUSE | |
| House 5 Marianna Defuniak | Write-in Anita Huffman (D), who was unfortunately disqualified from the race because of a notary public’s error on her paperwork. She filed to run against Brad Drake (R), who voted for the bill. |
| House 29 Lake Mary Sanford | Tracey Kagan (D), criminal defense attorney and single mother, is running against Scott Plakon (R), who voted for the bill. |
| House 47 East Orlando | Anna Eskamani (D), the incumbent, has been tireless in her efforts to help unemployment claimants all across Florida. She’s running against challenger Jeremy Sisson (R). |
| House 52 Melbourne Satellite Beach | Lloyd Dabbs (D), is a combat veteran and career intelligence officer running against Thad Altman (R), who voted for the bill. |
| House 64 Odessa Safety Harbor | Jessica Harrington (D), an educator, was running against James Grant (R), who voted for the bill until he resigned from the race to become Florida’s Chief Information Officer. Grant hand-picked Harrington’s new opponent, Traci Kloster (R), an attorney who has evicted people from their homes. |
| House 65 Dunedin Palm Harbor | Kelly Johnson (D), a single mother of 8 with first-hand experience as an unemployment claimant, is running against Chris Sprowls (R), who opposed a special session of the legislature this year and is in line to become House majority leader if he wins the race. |
| House 74 North Port Venice | Lisa Stortstrom (D), is an environmental activist with first-hand experience as an unemployment claimant. She’s running against the incumbent James Buchanan (R). |
Future Elections
The following Republican opponents of reasonable unemployment benefits will be up for election in 2022, with the exception of Rick Scott, whose current term in the U.S. Senate expires in 2024.
- Former Governor, now U.S. Senator, Rick Scott — 2024
- Lt. Governor, Jeanette Núñez — 2022
- Former state House member Jimmy Patronis, now state Chief Financial Officer — 2022
- State Senator Ben Albritton, District 26 — 2022
- State Senator Jeff Brandes, District 24 — 2022
- State Senator Ed Hooper, District 16 — 2022
- State Senator Kathleen Passidomo, District 28 — 2022
- State Senator Keith Perry, District 8 — 2022
- State Senator Kelli Stargel, District 22 — 2022
- Former House member Bryan Nelson, now Mayor of Apopka — 2022
- Former state Senator Alan Hays, now Lake County Supervisor of Elections, running unopposed in 2020
