Central Florida: Beyond The Soundbite

Let me throw three dates at you…

• November 6th, 2018–Florida voters passed Amendment 4, 65 to 35. The citizen's initiative called for the automatic restoration of felon voting rights upon completion of their sentences.
• June 28, 2019–Governor Ron DeSantis signs into law Senate Bill 7066, an implementing bill for Amendment 4. The law defined "completion of sentence" to include payment of restitution, or any fines, fees, or costs resulting from the conviction.
• August 19th, 2022–Governor Ron DeSantis' Office of Election Crimes and Security announce the arrest of twenty individuals they say were felons who illegally voted in the 2020 election.

Has Amendment 4 been implemented as to the wishes of the voters? Or does it create more hoops for ex-felons to jump through before they have their voting rights restored? Let's find out now from our guest, Neil Volz, Deputy Director of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition.

Voters will face a long slate of races on their November ballot. It may feel like every month—every year—we are in an election, but in just weeks; really—voters will cast ballots for the November general election. Floridians will decide not only who will represent them at home and in Tallahassee–but in Washington, D.C. --- in the tight race for U.S. Senate—and in Congressional House races. That includes an open seat for District 10—currently represented by Congresswoman Val Demings.

Let's find out now from our guest, one of the candidates in that race, Republican Calvin Wimbish.

Voters will face a long slate of races on their November ballot. Floridians will decide not just who represents them here at home and in Tallahassee – but also in Washington. Floridians will have weight in the balance of which party is in power in D.C. OR… It may feel like every month – every year – we are in an election. Each one more critical than the one before. In just weeks – really – voters will cast ballots for the November general election. Floridians will decide not only who will represent them at home and in Tallahassee – but in Washington, D.C. --- in the tight race for U.S. Senate – and in Congressional House races. That includes an open seat for District 10 – currently represented by Congresswoman Val Demings. You have Republican Calvin Wimbish who wants the seat – as well as our guest today – Democratic Congressional nominee Maxwell Frost

We want to pull back the curtain on candidates and campaigns. HOW do they decide to go after your vote? What goes into figuring out what you care about?

Our guest this week you could perhaps call a maverick of political marketing and campaigns. A longtime advisor for progressive candidates. His resume includes extensive work for the 2008 Obama presidential campaign, as well as a slate of state races including Charlie Crist for Governor in 2016 – Andrew Gillum in 2018, Nikki Fried here in 2022 – and there's no slowing down.

Joining us is Florida politics guru Kevin Cate of CateComm

The August primary is over, it's a matter of history now, and NOW, it's full speed ahead to the November general election, but in some cases, it's actually a runoff election. We're getting into the weeds here, so who better than to jump into the weeds with us than Orange County Supervisor of Elections Bill Cowles!

It seems like just days ago kids were in class for the last day of school – you blinked – and summer break is over. Kids are back in class – getting those new routines going. There are a lot of changes this school year – especially when it comes to safety. Many of these changes are inspired by the 2018 tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. You'll remember there were some immediate changes to law – but also the governor and legislature then empaneled a group of experts across the spectrum along with parents and others. The Marjory Stoneman Douglas Public Safety Commission is tasked with finding the failures of the response but also the fixes to prevent another MSD in Florida. Joining us is a member of MSD Public Safety Commission – a 50 year veteran of law enforcement – and honestly someone who doesn't need much of an introduction.

Sheriff Grady Judd joins us on this week's Beyond the Soundbite.

Hotelier and philanthropist Harris Rosen discusses the Rosen Medical Center & RosenCare, with the focus of the conversation: Affordable health care.

He is asked: How on earth are you able to provide fairly inexpensive health care to thousands of your employees?

Hear his answer in the latest Beyond the Soundbite.

ABOUT THE SHOW

Political figures and influencers are often heard in brief bites that don't capture the context of the whole story. "Central Florida: Beyond the Soundbite" expands the conversation with these newsmakers along the I-4 corridor and beyond. Join award-winning Spectrum News 13 anchor and Orlando Woman of the Year Ybeth Bruzual, political reporter Greg Angel, and veteran producer Gary Darling for a must-hear interview each week and learn about the issues affecting Central Florida.

We're less than a week away from the August election. For partisan races, it's the primary election, but for most non-partisan races, it's all about commissioners, council members and judges.

It's actually a general election, so as Orange County Supervisor of Elections Bill Cowles said in Beyond the Soundbite podcast a few weeks ago, "There's a ballot for everybody."

One set of races on the ballot can often lead to voters throwing their hands up and just blindly picking a name are the judicial races: the circuit court judges and the county court judges.

The big question is: How do you make an informed decision on who to vote for?

We're going to try and shed a little bit of light on that in this week's Beyond the Soundbite podcast. We have four judicial candidates who are on the ballot for the Ninth Judicial Circuit, Orange and Osceola counties.

Joining this week's podcast are:

• Aldo Bartolone
• Judge Vincent Chiu
• Alison Kerestes
• Fay Olga Pappas

ABOUT THE SHOW

Political figures and influencers are often heard in brief bites that don't capture the context of the whole story. "Central Florida: Beyond the Soundbite" expands the conversation with these newsmakers along the I-4 corridor and beyond. Join award-winning Spectrum News 13 anchor and Orlando Woman of the Year Ybeth Bruzual, political reporter Greg Angel, and veteran producer Gary Darling for a must-hear interview each week and learn about the issues affecting Central Florida.

Welcome to Central Florida: Beyond the Soundbite, Spectrum News 13's podcast that's covering politics up and down the I-4 corridor.

Aug. 23 is primary election day and it's coming up fast, with so many races to talk about.

This week, we're hearing from two of the three Republican candidates running in U.S. Congressional District 11, the seat currently held by Congressman Dan Webster.

Hear from candidates Laura Loomer and Gavriel Soriano.

ABOUT THE SHOW

Political figures and influencers are often heard in brief bites that don't capture the context of the whole story. "Central Florida: Beyond the Soundbite" expands the conversation with these newsmakers along the I-4 corridor and beyond. Join award-winning Spectrum News 13 anchor and Orlando Woman of the Year Ybeth Bruzual, political reporter Greg Angel, and veteran producer Gary Darling for a must-hear interview each week and learn about the issues affecting Central Florida.

We're now less than a month away from the Aug. 23 primary election. Vote-by-mail ballots heading out already and early voting starting in a few weeks.

The top race on the ballot for Democrats is the primary for governor.

Voters will see four names on their ballots: Charlie Crist, Cadance Daniel, Nikki Fried, and Robert Willis.

Nikki Fried, the current commissioner of Agriculture, joins this week's Beyond the Soundbite podcast.

ABOUT THE SHOW

Political figures and influencers are often heard in brief bites that don't capture the context of the whole story. "Central Florida: Beyond the Soundbite" expands the conversation with these newsmakers along the I-4 corridor and beyond. Join award-winning Spectrum News 13 anchor and Orlando Woman of the Year Ybeth Bruzual, political reporter Greg Angel, and veteran producer Gary Darling for a must-hear interview each week and learn about the issues affecting Central Florida.