There are less than two months until the November elections, in which voters will not only elect a new President of the United States, but also members of Congress, state legislatures, and key local positions.
To improve our election coverage, Central Florida Public Media has been doing a lot of listening this year. We’re listening to you through polls and asking you what’s driving you to vote – or perhaps keeping you from voting – this election year.
In addition to the survey, we also held many in-person meetings in small groups across our service area from Kissimmee to The Villages. The goal was to really find out what motivates people. Here are our findings:
Meet the participants – Tom Unrath
Tom Unrath, 69, said he has been a staunch Republican since he was 18. The Melbourne resident spent his career in the Air Force, where he served as a chaplain for 22 years. Since leaving the service, he has served communities throughout Brevard County. Unrath said there are a number of issues that are important to him this election cycle.
“Whether it’s homelessness or a school feeding program or whatever you want to talk about, how we take care of each other. What will our health care system look like? What should it look like? And what are you going to do for the environment?”
Unrath said the Republican Party has changed over the years and he is not happy with the party’s current state.
Doug Bowman
Like Unrath, 68-year-old Doug Bowman spent his career in the military, although he chose the Army. Bowman also describes himself as conservative, but the East Orlando resident said he feels abandoned by his party.
“In my opinion, the Republican Party today is driven by big corporations. It’s driven by wealthy donors whose agenda doesn’t necessarily reflect the opinion of the majority of the country.”
Bowan is a member of the League of Women Voters and said instead of focusing on the issues, they hear a lot of swearing and support and not enough talk about policies. He said he wants to support candidates who understand that compromise is necessary to lead successfully.
David Walker
David Walker is a retired educator who moved to Florida about seven years ago. The 64-year-old lives in Harmony, Florida, and is a registered independent with a left leaning. Walker said before moving to Florida, he identified as a Democrat and never really thought about why.
“It was almost as if you voted (Democrats) because that’s what your family did. You just went along with everyone else, and that’s what the community did, that’s how they voted.”
Walker said he made the change because he wanted to send a message to the Democratic Party that he would no longer vote casually. He said that while he has an ideological leaning, he will vote for candidates who have policies that address issues important to him and who have good character.
Tiffany Jeffers
Our final panelist is Tiffany Jeffers. She is 42 years old and lives in Kissimmee with her husband and three children. She also runs a nonprofit called The Black Empowerment and Community Council.
She has taken the opposite path to Walker. For the first time, she has joined a political party.
“I’m a registered Democrat. I’ve been independent most of my life and this is the first year I’ve actually been affiliated with a party.”
Jeffers said education and housing are at the top of the list of issues she will vote on this year.
She believes that youth engagement is also crucial, as her two daughters are voting for the first time.
The conclusion
Whether it was the economic situation, the enshrinement of abortion in Florida’s constitution, or concerns about how citizens should be treated, one thing was clear: Regardless of the political affiliation of the people at the table, they were much closer on issues that affect their daily lives than they thought when they began the conversation. They left the discussion full of hope.
We’ll be hearing more from this group of Central Floridians in the coming weeks about where they stand on the issues of this election season and what concerns them about the state of our politics.
