The mess that Byron Donalds promises to fix is a result of failed Republican leadership.

Republicans made Florida unaffordable. They failed to mandate condo reserves before Surfside. They made Florida a cesspool of corruption and deceit for monied interests. They cannot get a handle on insurance, electricity or cost of living. It’s Republicans who gave needless voucher dollars to the wealthy who don’t need the money.

Will Donalds keep Dr. Ladapo? Absolutely. Republicans are the architects of the very mess that they now promise to clean up. How ironic that they portray themselves as the solution. It is like hiring arsonists to clean up after they set the town ablaze.

Let’s not forget the illegal, immoral Alligator Alley that Floridians are on the hook for. Donalds is just another gear in the Republican engine that is beholden to the wealthy the powerful and the corrupt — all at the expense of working-class Floridians. Yes, change is needed.

David Jolly is our only choice, our only chance to restore decency and integrity to an office that’s corrupt from top to bottom.

— Steve Talercio, Hallandale Beach

Your vote makes a difference

So many people think their vote does not count but with elections so close, every vote can make a difference. For those unhappy with the status quo, a sure way to lose is to stay home or not mail in their ballots in protest — clearly a mistake!

Living in Florida, we see what state government can do to the quality of education, healthcare, the basic needs of an ever-growing population. I ask voters to remember just two important pieces of information about the GOP candidate for governor, Byron Donalds.

He ridiculously claimed while being interviewed that a rise in the measles outbreak was caused by immigrants. He also couldn’t admit that Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election, making him still an election denier. Both statements should scare anyone into voting mode.

Donalds would take over the DeSantis policies and continue keeping important books off school shelves and purposefully allow ICE to perpetrate illegal actions and racially profiling people and possibly U.S. citizens, too.

David Jolly knew when to leave the Republican Party. Voting is the only way out for anyone who’s unhappy with a government headed toward authoritarianism. Open your eyes to see it, open your ears to hear it!

— Linda Gefen, Boca Raton

Ashley who?

I received my first response from Sen. Ashley Moody today after writing and calling her repeatedly about various issues since I discovered she was Marco Rubio’s replacement, which seemed like it was secret for a long time. She wrote to me about the subject of agriculture.

Vote against Amendment 3. It’s designed to sneakily sabotage your property rights and your ability to receive public services. Vote for David Jolly — not Byron Donalds.

— John Dwyer, Naples

The threat from within

This is how far we have gone: The President of the United States and the Department of Justice are the biggest threats to free and fair democratic elections in America.

— Bernardo Lopez, Fort Lauderdale

The ballot that never arrived

As a United States citizen registered to vote in Broward County, I have been successfully voting by mail from Canada for more than 20 years.

But this year, despite having requested my ballot several weeks ago and having confirmed on the Broward Supervisor of Elections’ website that it was sent, I never received a ballot. It was the first time this has occurred.

Whether this was due to incompetence or a deliberate effort to disenfranchise a voter, the overall impression is that ensuring voters can vote is no longer a priority. I suggest you investigate whether other vote-by-mail voters received ballots or were disenfranchised as well.

I have sent a registered letter to the Broward Supervisor of Elections with the same language as my letter to the editor (hopefully, it arrives shortly). Personally, I am disappointed and frustrated that I am unable to vote.

— Michael Gordon, North Vancouver, British Columbia

Make sure your vote counts

Here in Palm Beach County, I personally take our filled-in ballots (mine and my wife’s) to a nearby Supervisor of Elections office and hand them directly to a clerk.

In the last primary election, and for the general election, I was notified by the supervisor that my mail-in ballot was rejected and sent to the canvassing board because of a signature problem.

As we age, our signatures might change. Before I could do anything about this, the next day I received notification from the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections that the canvassing board received my ballot, and it was accepted. My primary and general election ballots will be counted.

— Michael S. Simon, Boynton Beach

A disgruntled postal customer

Louis DeJoy, whom President Trump (his buddy) appointed as Postmaster General, served from June 2020 until his resignation on March 24, 2025.

DeJoy created a disaster. My mail in Fort Lauderdale has been slow. It has not shown up on time for two years. I recently received two checks from customers dated Sept. 1.

It took 50 days for them to arrive. Now, with some ballots not being delivered, perhaps someone will look into the hell I have lived through.

They combined all the mail from Key West to Palm Beach into one processing center. How ridiculous!

— Susan Schaffel, Fort Lauderdale

No wonder people don’t vote

My father was a lifelong Democrat from the time he landed at Ellis Island in 1910 until he died in 1975. He always kept a framed picture of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt at his bedside.

Even when he accepted some later criticism of FDR, he would also point to the shortcomings of Wendell Willkie, Alf Landon, Charles Lindbergh and Father Charles Coughlin.

But with few exceptions, his criticism of Republicans centered on policy, not character. I recall his respect for Republicans, like Sen. Everett Dirksen. He thought they were wrong, but not evil.

He would be appalled by the current state of affairs. Criticism of opponents, whether Republican or Democrat, centers on character. Even locally, we kept seeing competing claims of corruption and malfeasance between Scott Singer and Jared Moskowitz. No wonder people don’t vote.

— Ben Mirman, Deerfield Beach

The guts to fix the problem

What our president and the Congress have failed to address is the necessity to fix Social Security to avoid a marked reduction in benefits projected by the year 2032.

I believe that only a Democratic majority will have the guts to fix the long-term problem, part of which is to raise the cap (maximum annual income subject to Social Security payroll tax).

— Sid Kurdis, Hallandale Beach

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