Early voting in the Florida Primary elections has begun, and three of the Jamaican candidates are feeling confident based on what they have seen so far.
Democrat and New-comer Lisa Dunkley, who is running to become the State’s Legislative candidate for District 97, says she is optimistic but cautious as she goes around to get a sense of how voters are responding to her campaign. “I am out there trying to feel the pulse of the voters, and based on the feedback so far, if everybody voted the way they told me, our campaign should be in a good position when all the votes are counted,” she told CNW. She quickly points out that it is still early days yet, and nothing should be taken for granted. “There is still a long way to go, and we will be doing everything to ensure the residents in the district send me to Tallahassee to help fight for them.
Dunkley, a US Army veteran, is campaigning on housing affordability, property insurance cost reduction, expansion of education access, and benefits for disabled veterans.
Dale Holness, who was beaten by five votes in last year’s Democratic Primary by Sheila Cerfilius McCormick, said his supporters are very enthusiastic and have started to show enthusiasm in the voting booth. “Many people are ensuring they bring their families out to vote.” He told CNW, “We’ve gotten tremendous positive feedback because of my service to the community. People I helped along the way are now calling in to ask how they can support.”
Mr. Holness said his campaign is “robustly knocking on doors, making more phone calls, sending out more mailings, and doing more advertising.” He admitted that in the last election, his campaign was not as prepared as it should be because of the timing, but things are different now.
Holness’s campaign is built on “prosperity for all.” He hopes to achieve his political goal by “economically and politically empowering the people, strengthening households and businesses, creating policies to improve access to opportunities, and unifying everyone across racial, ethnic, and socio-economic backgrounds.” He will face McCormick again for the right to represent District 20 in congress.
Republican Carla Spalding, who is running for the District 25 congressional seat, said she is “very confident” that she will be the nominee. “I have no doubt whatsoever. I see my opponent on the Democratic side working ten times harder than she did last, so that tells me that we are doing well.”
The veteran, nurse, and teacher said, “The American people are also waking up and realizing that it’s not necessarily about a party right now. It’s about surviving, about doing the right thing for the people and by the people. She said that anyone in the office for more than ten years is compromised, and it is best if the voters select someone new. Spalding who has been down this road before. She lost the Republican primary in 2016 to Joe Kaufman but defeated Michael Kroske four years later to be the nominee. She lost to incumbent Debbie Wasserman Shultz in the congressional election by 62 365 votes.
Spalding is closely affiliated with former president Donald Trump. If she wins, she will fight in congress for election integrity, jobs, border security, national defense, healthcare, education, law and order, and better management of government spending.
Early voting runs from August 13 to 21 in Broward. To find your location, click here. In Palm Beach, early voting started on August 8 and will end on August 21. Voting locations in Palm Beach can be found here.
