BALLOT RECOMMENDATIONS

US Senate - Val Demings
US Congress – Joanne Terry
Governor – Charlie Crist
Attorney General – Aramis Ayala
Chief Financial Officer – Adam Hattersley
Commissioner of Agriculture – Noami Ester Blemur
State Representative District 34 – Karen Greb
School Board - Cynthia Gibbs

Supreme Court recommendations: Vote to retain:

"No one can do everything,
but everyone can do something."



 

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES


We need everyone to vote - only 25% of Democrats have voted as of this morning! Please tell your Dem neighbors to vote! Text all your IRC friends and tell them to vote Blue and to vote for Cindy Gibbs. Then tell them to text all their friends as well! We need turnout!

 

PLEASE HELP GET OUT THE VOTE!



Weekly GOTV Rallies


This Saturday, October 29 at 10:00 a.m. we will gather to wave signs to encourage people to VOTE! in Vero Beach at the corner of Hwy 60 and 58th Ave.  Signs will be provided, and you are welcome to bring your own! 
 
We will deliver GET OUT THE VOTE information to Democrats in Fellsmere Precinct 2 and Gifford Precinct 16 on Saturday, October 29 and Sunday October 30 9am - 4pm. We are reaching out to Democrats who have not yet voted in this election. Please contact us at the office if you are available to join the canvassing teams for any period of time between those hours this weekend.
We will also need help preparing the information packets on Friday in the office.



Contacting Voters


Volunteers have contacted tens of thousands of Indian River County voters via text and postcards, and we will continue to send text messages and postcards to thousands more potential voters in the coming weeks.

If you have an hour or two to help prepare postcards for the Cynthia Gibbs for School Board campaign, you can pick up postcards to be done at home or you can do them in the Democrats of Indian River office at 2345 14th Ave. Vero Beach 32960.


THANK YOU VOLUNTEERS!

CALENDAR



Saturday, October 29, 2022

10:00 a.m. - SIGN WAVING RALLY to VOTE BLUE in Vero Beach at the CVS corner of 58th Ave and Hwy 60. Signs are provided or you can bring your own.
  Sunday October 30,2022

1:00 p.m. - Sign Waving for Cindy! Join the Cynthia Bibbs for School Board Rally on the 17th St Bridge. Signs provided.


Tuesday, November 1, 2022

9:00 a.m. – Vero Beach City Council, City Council Chambers, City Hall, 1053 20^th Place, Vero Beach, 32960
For agenda and meeting information go to https://covb.org/AgendaCenter
You can watch here: https://www.covb.org/341/CTYVB-13---City-of-Vero-Beach-Official-T
 
 
9:00 a.m. – Indian River County Commission, County Administration Offices – Council Chambers, 1801 27th Street, Building A, Vero Beach 32960-3388
 
For agenda and meeting information go to
https://ircgov.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx



Thursday, November 3, 2022

7:00 p.m. - Fellsmere City Council, 22 S. Orange Street, Fellsmere, FL 32948
 
For agenda and meeting information go to www.cityoffellsmere.org/citycouncil


 

CANDIDATE DONATION SITES 


charliecrist.com


valdemings.com


JoanneTerry.com 


www.KarenGreb.com

https://secure.actblue.com/donate/cynthia-gibbs-for-school-board-1




Please donate to the Democrats of Indian River

We will appreciate any contributions you can make to help fund our GET-OUT-THE-VOTE efforts as we come down to the final stretch. You can donate at DemocratsOfIndianRiver.org or you can mail or stop by our office at 2345 14th Ave. 

Many thanks to all of you who have donated in this current election cycle. It is very much appreciated!


 VOTE BLUE in 2022!
 

STATE

 

Crist and DeSantis Debate Highlights

Gov. Ron DeSantis and U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist unloaded on each other Monday night in a debate that encapsulated the tumultuous last few years in a state wracked by the pandemic and highly-polarized politics, tussling over everything from abortion to inflation to COVID-19 policies.

Sharing the stage together at the Sunrise Theatre in Fort Pierce for their first and only matchup before a raucous audience, the candidates vividly brought to life a race that, at times, has seemed to be an afterthought nationally as DeSantis built formidable leads in everything from fundraising to polling and voter registration. The one-hour debate was broadcast live on TV stations across Florida.

Determined to take advantage of his last and best chance to change the trajectory of the race, Crist packed in plenty of punches, frequently returning to the abortion issue that his campaign has centered around. He said “right to choose” at least eight times during the evening in reference to women’s rights on abortion.

Asked about Florida’s affordable housing problem in the first question of the debate, Crist led off by declaring that the race is “a stark contrast between someone who believes in a woman’s right to choose” and a governor who “has signed a bill that would restrict that right, even in cases of rape or incest.” DeSantis signed a bill banning abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy with no exceptions.

DeSantis also was quick to pivot to his preferred political terrain, and was more aggressive in attacking Crist than at any point in the race so far, which has mostly featured the Republican governor ignoring his Democratic opponent in favoring of jabbing at President Joe Biden.

DeSantis didn’t abandon Biden as his foil, though, instead working to tie Crist to the unpopular president who has seen his poll numbers plummet amid historic levels of inflation.

“Charlie Crist has voted with Joe Biden 100% of the time,” DeSantis said in his first remarks of the debate, arguing that what he described as the “Biden-Crist” agenda is driving up costs across the board.

Crist tried to turn DeSantis’s focus on Biden into a liability, saying the governor cares more about running for president and trying to unseat Biden than solving Florida’s problems.

“Gov. DeSantis has taken his eye off the ball; he’s focused on running for president in 2024,” Crist said.

That line of attack continued throughout the debate and appeared to catch DeSantis off guard at one point, with Crist pressing him to declare he’ll serve all four years of a second term as governor.

“Ron, Ron you talk about Joe Biden a lot. I understand. You think you’re going to be running against him,” Crist said. “I can see how you might get confused but you’re running for governor. … Why don’t you look in the eyes of the people of the state of Florida and say to them, if you’re reelected, you will serve a full four years as governor. Yes or no? Yes or no, Ron?”

DeSantis stood stone-faced without answering as Crist pressed him, with the debate lapsing into silence at one point. The moderator, WPE C-CBS12 news anchor anchor Liz Quirantes, reminded Crist that the candidates had agreed not to ask each other questions, before turning to DeSantis for a response.

“I just want to make things very, very clear,” DeSantis said. “The only wornout old donkey I’m looking to put out to pasture is Charlie Crist.”

The aggressive back-and-forth continued as the candidates fielded questions about CO VID-19 policies, the state’s property insurance crisis, the inflation problem and culture war battles over education issues.

DeSantis is emphasizing his COVID- 19 response as he runs for reelection, touting the “free state of Florida.”

DeSantis said he “rejected Charlie Crist’s lockdown” rhetoric, arguing Crist would have pursued COVID-19 policies harmful to Florida’s economy.

“Ron, that’s rich. You’re the only governor in the history of Florida that’s ever shut down our schools,” Crist responded.

While DeSantis has been eager to emphasize his COVID-19 policies on the campaign trail, he has largely avoided another key economic concern for many: the state’s affordability issues.

Crist turned a question about property insurance into an extended attack on the governor’s record on pocketbook issues, saying he has done nothing to stop increases in electric rates while labeling his gas tax cut a month before the election “so political it’s, it’s disgusting.”

“The Charlie Crist plan for homeowner’s insurance is to ... chase the private insurers out,” DeSantis said, arguing that allowing state-run Citizens Property Insurance to keep growing would “end up capsizing the state of Florida.”

DeSantis also tied the property insurance issue to inflation, which he said is driving up property insurance costs by making home repairs more expensive.

“These are the effects of the Biden-Crist policies, the worst inflation in 40 years,” DeSantis said.

Asked what he would do to tackle inflation, DeSantis pointed to his efforts to cut taxes for baby items such as diapers and reduce tolls.

Inflation has put Democrats on the defensive, but Crist tried to go on attack, saying: “You should have done that the first year you were in office, I mean aren’t you supposed to be helping us all four years instead of just the last year?”

Republicans also believe they have an advantage on cultural issues and have been aggressively pushing policies on transgender children, something the debate moderator asked about.

DeSantis approved HB 1557, the Parental Rights in Education act, which is derided by critics as the “Don’t Say Gay” law. The bill outlaws teaching about gender identity or sexual orientation in grades K-3.

The governor also has pushed to outlaw certain medical procedures for transgender children in Florida and signed a bill banning transgender girls from playing girls sports.

“It’s all about culture wars, it’s all about dividing us,” Crist said. “I’m a uniter.”

“I think denying girls and women athletes the right to compete fairly, I think that’s divisive,” DeSantis responded. “I think it’s divisive to rip opportunities away from our girls in the state of Florida.”

The debate marked the start of the closing two-week campaign stretch before Election Day on Nov. 8. Early voting started Monday across the state, while mail voting began weeks ago.

Nearly 1.2 million mail-in ballots have been cast so far and Democrats only lead by 47,000 ballots, a small margin for a party that needs to dominate in mail-in voting to make up for the GOP’s advantage in in-person voting.

DeSantis has a dramatic fundraising advantage, with $106 million in cash on hand as of Oct. 14, compared to $2.2 million for Crist. Meanwhile, registered Republican voters surpassed registered Democratic voters this cycle for the first time in Florida history. The GOP also benefits from a favorable national political climate.

The two most recent public polls by Florida Atlantic University and Mason Dixon both showed DeSantis leading Crist by 11 percentage points, a huge margin in Florida, where the last three races for governor have been decided by a percentage point or less.

DeSantis won the governor’s mansion in 2018 by the closest margin in Florida history.

A Telemundo/LX News survey of Florida Hispanic voters released this week even found DeSantis winning that demographic by seven percentage points, a bad sign for Democrats who carried the Hispanic vote in losing 2016, 2018 and 2020 campaigns, according to exit polls.

Large contingents of DeSantis and Crist supporters packed into the 1,200-seat theater for the debate, cheering loudly for their candidates.

The intense audience reactions sometimes interrupted and overwhelmed the action on stage, and led to two Crist supporters being escorted out by law enforcement.

The intensity of the political moment also was illustrated by the scene outside the debate venue, where groups of De-Santis and Crist partisans faced off in the street before entering the theater.

DeSantis supporters arrived early with signs and flags. Crist supporters arrived later, marching through the street in pink shirts and pink signs reading “For Choice, For Charlie.” They chanted “No Charlie, no choice” and “Hey hey, ho ho, Ron DeSantis has got to go.”

A DeSantis supporter with a bullhorn responded by declaring that “abortion is murder” and “baby killers are in the house.”

Eventually, DeSantis supporters mostly gravitated to one side of the street and Crist supporters mostly congregated on the other, with police officers in the middle. A visual representation of a divided Sunshine State.

 

Zac Anderson

USA TODAY NETWORK – FLORIDA

 
Office Hours
 
 Monday through Friday 10am to 3pm
  
 2345 14^th Ave. Suite 7
 Vero Beach 32960



 (772) 226-5267 

[email protected]