Dear Friends,
The election season will officially conclude November 8 and we are very excited to bring this cycle to a close. We are grateful to live in America, where, even if we make a mistake about who we choose to lead us, we have the ability to choose differently in the next election. No one person can dominate the government for a lifetime. In Florida, we are grateful to have anti-incumbency laws in our constitution so that we are always ready to receive wisdom and fresh ideas from another who is willing to serve. We should not be afraid of those who do have experience serving in elected roles, they bring highly valuable insight and knowledge. We do recognize, however, that we cannot allow our state to operate as Washington D.C. does. There, men and women hold office for decades and become so entrenched that they lose all sense of what it means to be an average citizen. It is not true of all that serve in federal government, but it is a concern for many.
We are confident that we will have a smooth and fair election where voters can be assured that their ballot was counted accurately and that our elections are legitimate. The Florida Legislature has worked hard these last few years to ensure that it is incredibly difficult to cheat our elections. As the Chair of the Ethics and Elections Committee, your Senator had the opportunity to directly sponsor and/or oversee some of the largest elections changes this state has seen in decades. SB 90 (2021) and SB (524) fixed issues and loopholes surrounding drop boxes, ballot harvesting, and vote-by-mail ballots. In addition, we established an investigative unit on elections security within the Department of State that will weed out potential abusers of our elections. No system is perfect and our work is never finished. “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance”. In Florida, we will continue to make it easy to vote, but very, very hard to cheat.
Our prayers continue for our neighbors in the southern part of the state who, little by little, are piecing back together their lives after the destruction caused by Hurricane Ian. How Floridians have responded to such tragedy is truly amazing and it is a blessing to be serving some of the most hardworking and dedicated people in this entire country. Governor DeSantis did an amazing job coordinating the state’s response to this disaster and we are fortunate to have a leader like him for times such as this.
Thank you for your trust and confidence; it is an honor to serve you in the Florida Senate.
Onward & Upward,
Senator Dennis Baxley
