Voter Action Pinellas works to build an enduring community that votes for social justice and an inclusive democracy. We don't endorse candidates or advocate positions on ballot questions. Instead, we provide information designed to help like-minded voters make informed choices.
Democratic Primaries and Democratic Party Elections
All Florida Democrats may vote in the U.S. Senate Democratic August Primary. Democrats living in U.S. Congressional District 13 (currently represented by Republican Anna Paulina Luna) may vote in the Democratic Primary for that seat.
In five Pinellas County precincts (Precincts 142, 216, 220, 231, and 527), Democrats may also vote for a Democratic Party Precinct Committeeman and/or Precinct Committeewoman.
Voter Action Pinellas lists all candidates in these races. We don't promote one Democratic candidate over another, but we encourage you to make a choice and share it with like-minded voters.
Supervisor of Elections Universal Primary
All candidates running for Supervisor of Elections are Republicans, so rather than a partisan Republican Primary this is a Universal Primary. That means that all Pinellas County voters, regardless of party affiliation, can vote in this August Primary election. The candidate who receives the most votes will be the winner, and the race will not appear on the November General Election ballot.
In this race, Voter Action Pinellas lists the Republican candidate who is most closely aligned with our values.
Circuit Judge Primary
If a Circuit Judge candidate wins more than 50% of the vote in the August Primary, that candidate will be the winner and the race will not appear on the November General Election ballot.
Circuit Judges hear cases involving criminal felonies, family law, civil cases seeking relief of $50,000 or greater, probate, guardianship and mental health, juvenile dependency (child abuse and neglect), delinquency and appeals for some administrative and noncriminal infractions.
Group numbers are not assigned based on geography. All Pinellas voters vote in both the Group 9 and Group 14 judicial races.
Judicial candidates are different from other candidates. Judges are not elected to implement policy. They are required to be impartial – to apply the facts of each case to existing law, regardless of their personal policy beliefs. But because Circuit Judges have discretion in cases where existing law doesn’t clearly dictate the outcome of a case, the judge’s political leanings may influence their decision making.
Candidate party affiliation is not listed on the ballot for Circuit Judge. For each Circuit Judge election, Voter Action Pinellas lists the candidate most closely aligned with our values, based solely on publicly available information about each candidates' affiliation with political parties and other partisan groups.
Other factors you may consider include:
- Prior legal experience
- Prior experience as a prosecutor or defense attorney or other government work as a litigator
- Endorsements
- Opinions of trusted lawyers on the candidates' legal knowledge, experience, and writing and analytical skills
Here are some resources for evaluating judicial candidates:
Know Your Court provides a list of types of cases each judge handles.
Guide for Florida Voters is the Florida Bar’s Judicial and Merit Retention Elections FAQ.
American Constitution Society, a progressive legal organization.
Nonpartisan Elections (nonjudicial)
In all nonjudicial nonpartisan elections, including School Board and municipal elections, we list only Democrats and others who indicate shared values.
In nonpartisan elections, a candidate’s party affiliation is not listed on the ballot. We list the affiliation that the candidate has selected on their voter registration.
County Referendum Question
Voter Action Pinellas does not advocate a position on any ballot question. For the County Referendum we will share recommendations from like-minded groups, if available.
References to “they,” “them,” and “their” refer to the singular or plural, as applicable, and to all genders.
A community that votes for social justice and inclusive democracy.
Paid for by Vote Blue Network of Florida, Inc. and Voter Action Network, Inc.,122 15th Ave. North, St. Petersburg, FL 33704. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.