Today’s entry: Mr. Mudd, I find the research that you do before election time to be invaluable in helping me be an educated voter. I especially appreciate the research that you have done concerning the proposed state amendments. My dilemma is that I find it difficult to get reliable information when it comes to the election of judges that may be on the ballot. I would appreciate any assistance that you could give me when it comes to researching judges.
I thank you for the no-nonsense approach that you take and how you strive to get to the truth. God bless you and your family and keep up the good fight.
Bottom Line: I’m truly appreciative of your kind words and I'm glad my stories have been helpful to you. I’ll be bringing back the Florida Amendment series, providing a comprehensive breakdown of each proposed amendment, prior to the start of early voting for November’s elections. This year, there are six proposed constitutional amendments that will appear on our ballots including four which were citizen initiatives and two advanced by the Florida Legislature. For now, though, in advance of Florida’s August 18th primaries, the focus is on the elections which will be decided next month. There are several judges which will be elected next month in South Florida, and as I’ve pointed out extensively throughout the pandemic, it’s often the elections that happen closest to you which have the biggest impact on your daily life. These judgeships certainly are important races.
Each cycle one of the top requests I receive are for recommendations and/or guidance for non-partisan races. I don’t endorse candidates but want to be as helpful as possible. As a fiscal conservative, I find myself often voting for the candidates I disagree with the least. You might find yourself in a similar situation which can make decisions challenging. I use to vet non-partisan races/candidates that’ll hopefully be useful.
I start by seeing if there’s anything specific to them that I’m familiar with and feel strongly about. For incumbent judges, it might be a specific ruling. For challengers, it might be involvement in specific civic organizations. Next, I check out their websites and social media pages. Personal social media pages from candidates are often extremely revealing. Just because a race might not be partisan, many candidates are extremely partisan in reality. The way they live and depict their personal lives on social media, along with the people they associate with can be telling.
At this point, if I’m still uncertain, I’ll look to endorsements. These can work in two ways. Are there individuals and/or organizations I respect who are backing a specific candidate? Conversely, are there people/organizations that I strongly disagree with that lineup behind a particular candidate? The process of elimination can be helpful in the “lesser of evils” selections. It’s rare that I go through all of those steps and I'm still indecisive. Hopefully, that helps and happy voting.
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Email: brianmudd@iheartmedia.com
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