Later this week, the Orlando Sentinel will start running its endorsements of candidates in the 2024 primary. There’s a lot of ground to cover — this year, we’ve got more than 50 races including congressional, state legislative, county and city contests on the primary ballot alone, and we’ll be making endorsements in 30 or more of those. We’re seeing the kinds of races that rarely show up on ballots; for example, three of our local congressional incumbents (Dan Webster, Maxwell Frost and Cory Mills) are facing challengers from their own parties. We also have a few exceedingly rare open primaries, such as the contest for the Orange-Osceola public defender: Because both candidates are Democrats, the primary race will be open to all voters including Republicans and those with no party affiliation.
The multitude of races makes it critical for voters to prepare for, and participate in, the Aug. 20 primary. There will be something for every voter on this ballot — including many high-profile races that could be decided in the primary.
Before we start printing our endorsements, we thought it would be a good idea to let our readers know how these critical (and often very difficult) decisions are made — and the resources we’re offering to everyone, whether or not you agree with us. That includes video of candidate interviews as well as questionnaires that give you basic, big-picture information about each candidate in his or her own words.
You’ll also have the chance to speak your own mind about races on this year’s ballot.
Step by step, here’s how we do it:
We pick our battles
Even when our editorial board was double the size, we didn’t endorse in every race. This year we are focusing our efforts on candidates who mostly serve residents in Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Lake counties. We’re going to have to give some smaller cities a pass, along with all the special-district races. But we will do our best to cover county-level races as well as judicial and state House and Senate contests and, of course, Congress. Right now, we’re only focusing on races that will appear on the primary ballot.
We invite candidates in
In most races we’ll be inviting candidates for a virtual meeting with members of our editorial board. Those meetings are structured as interviews, not debates, and are designed to give viewers the best insight possible into the opinions and aspirations of candidates. We do our best to make sure that each candidate has equal time to answer the same questions, and we post the entire videos online for readers. Our interview policy is that candidates in each race are interviewed as a group; this is a scheduling challenge but we think this makes it easier for voters to see where candidates stand.
Some candidates decline the invitation to interview; in that case, the editorial board usually proceeds with those candidates who agree to speak with us. Declining an interview does not disqualify a candidate from receiving our endorsement — but this year that probably won’t be as much of a factor. Most of the candidates we’ve reached so far, including some who have declined in the past, say they will participate.
We dig deeper
Along with the editorial board, the Sentinel’s newsroom will provide campaign coverage that’s up to its normal high standards. It’s important to note that the opinion department operates separately from the newsroom; the Sentinel’s reporters and news editors usually find out who the editorial board is endorsing at the same time that our readers do. We’ll be sharing some information — including the questionnaires and standard background checks — but the editorial board never attempts to influence news coverage. That “separation of church and state” is one that most newspapers revere, and that the Sentinel will never compromise.
We make our decisions
This is the toughest part. Across our decades of journalism, editorial board members have come to understand just how much hard work, passion, commitment and sacrifice it takes to be a serious candidate for public office. It’s impossible not to respect that. In many races, we move into the decision-making process with the knowledge that any of the contenders could be an excellent public servant. The flip side of that is far more rare: A race in which we cannot see our way clear to endorsing any candidate.
Here’s what we look at when considering this critical decision. First and foremost, we evaluate the candidates’ positions. In any given race, we’re looking for the candidate whose values and priorities most closely match the best interests of the district they want to represent. We also look at the candidates’ experience, including former stints in public office, and the unique perspectives they may bring as a result of their profession or community involvement.
The members of the editorial board — Editor-in-chief Julie Anderson, Opinion editor Krys Fluker and Viewpoints editor Jay Reddick — discuss each choice. In some cases, other opinion writers might participate. In each endorsement, the names of the people who made the decision will be noted.
Our most important job
This may sound like a lot of work. And it is, even before we mention the massive role played by Barbara Jay, who coordinates and schedules the video interviews and keeps everything on track. But it’s worth it. We don’t do this because we want to dictate to our readers: We do it to take a closer, more comparative look at political hopefuls that contrasts their strengths and weaknesses as we see them. And we want to make sure readers have access to as much direct-from-the-candidate information as possible.
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That’s why we end every editorial board interview by urging our readers to take our opinion as one source of information — but also to do their own research into the candidates and their positions, choosing the one who best fits their own values.
Your turn to talk
There’s one more step we hope readers consider taking. If you find yourself feeling strongly about a particular candidate, we welcome you to share your opinion with us via a letter to the editor. In a coming edition we’ll publish a guide to campaign letters that spells out the specific rules. But we plan to devote as much space as possible to readers’ opinions, and we hope you’ll start to think about playing a role —particularly on the local and state races that won’t be getting as much attention as the epic showdown between Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
This will be one of the most crowded, high-stakes elections in recent memory. Many American voters feel that they are caught in a whirlwind of unprecedented events that are beyond their imagination, let alone their control. But any election is a chance to remind our leaders just who they work for. The Orlando Sentinel will do its best to help our readers exercise democracy’s foundational liberty — with the understanding that the final decision is up to you.
The Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Opinion Editor Krys Fluker, Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson and Viewpoints Editor Jay Reddick. Contact us at insight@orlandosentinel.com
