Last Saturday I sent a survey to 51 candidates running for the various offices representing Northwest Florida. I got 12 survey responses and two emails in reply. The two email replies did not complete the survey. Below are the candidate responses to the survey and some survey statistics (which are interesting). I do apologize because I realized too late that questions 6 & 7 were duplicates (the dangers of copy and paste), however it is interesting that some candidates answered the same question differently.
(These are pdf files and are safe for downloading. You will need Adobe Acrobat reader, which you can download here for free)
Based on these responses and other research, here are my endorsements. I did not endorse all candidates simply because there was not enough information available to me. Some of my endorsements are not without reservations. Governor Scott and Congressman Miller have been disappointing on some issues. Nevertheless, the alternative candidates did not gain my confidence and trust. Feel free to leave your endorsements below; just do not attack an opposing candidate or your response will be rejected. Notwithstanding, stating an incumbent's voting record is not an attack.
I've listed all the candidates I contacted and the candidate's name I've endorsed is in bold. I've also parenthetically put their response status. If they responded, I put the number so you can easily find their response in the Candidate Responses document above.
These endorsements are solely my own and in no way reflect the endorsements of the Northwest Florida Republican Assembly, the Florida Republican Assembly (FRA), or the National Federation of Republican Assemblies (NFRA).
Governor
Rick Scott (Incumbent) (email response sent me to another website)
Yinka Abosede Adeshina (did not respond)
Elizabeth Cuevas-Neunder (email said she didn’t want me endorsement, but would complete the survey, which she did not
US Representative, FL District 1
John Krause (did not respond)
Jeff Miller [(Incumbent) did not respond]
Florida State Representative, District 2
Doug Broxson [(Incumbent) did not respond]
Jamie Smith (response #8)
Escambia County Commissioner – District 2
Doug Underhill (did not respond)
Gene Valentino [(Incumbent) did not respond]
Mayor Of Pensacola (Nonpartisan Office)
Donna Clark (response #3)
Ashton Hayward [(Incumbent) did not respond]
Pensacola City Council, District 2 (Nonpartisan Office)
Sherri Myers [(Incumbent) did not respond]
Dennis Tacket (did not respond)
Pensacola City Council, District 6 (Nonpartisan Office)
Brian Spencer [(Incumbent) did not respond]
Mark Taylor (did not respond)
Santa Rosa County Commissioner – District 2
Robert (Bob) Cole (response #6)
Jim Melvin (response #1)
Santa Rosa County Commissioner – District 4
Ruth Dupont Esser (response #11)
Yvonne Harper (response #5)
Andrea McDermott (response #4)
Rob Williamson (did not respond)
Santa Rosa County School Board – District 1
Sandra Nicely (response #3)
Diane Scott [(Incumbent) did not respond]
Santa Rosa County School Board – District 3
Carol Boston (did not respond)
Debbie Gunnoe (response #9)
Fuchsia Ann Spann (did not respond)
Jim R. Taylor (did not respond)
Circuit Judge, Group 22 (Non-Partisan Office)
Michelle Inere (did not respond)
Jennie Kinsey (did not respond)
Okaloosa County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller
J.D. Peacock (did not respond)
Charles Baugh Jr. (did not respond)
Dan Spence (response #12)
Okaloosa County Commissioner – District 4
Don Amunds [(Incumbent) did not respond]
Henry Kelley (did not respond)
Trey Goodwin (did not respond)
Okaloosa County School Board – District 1
Cindy Frakes [(Incumbent) response #7]
Lamar White (did not respond)
Okaloosa County School Board – District 3
C.W. Soldier Hyden (response #10)
Joseph Slusser (did not respond)Rodney Walker [(Incumbent) did not respond]
Okaloosa County School Board – District 5
David Scholl (did not respond)
Melissa Thrush [(Incumbent) did not respond]
No Walton County candidates responded to the survey