FiscalRangers.com Voter Guide for Lake County, FL.
If you read this entire page, you will know more about local Lake County, FL elections than 95% of the voters. You will be able to make an informed choice for Republican or non-partisan candidates on your ballot.
Updated Aug. 17th, 2024 - This is our final version for the Aug. 20, 2024 primary elections. We added more candidates, comments, and Judge race information. Print this.
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You can also view our VIDEOS of Lake County Republican candidates running for 2024 office, including city, county, state and federal positions plus Judges PLUS OUR RECOMMENDATIONS. https://rumble.com/c/c-1246532 or Rumble.com/FiscalRangers.
This page and updated versions can be reached on our FiscalRangers.com blog at:
https://www.fiscalrangers.com/elections-2024-lake-county-fl.html
Look in the right column under "Elections" to find this page.
This document is separated into the following sections.
- Election candidates and our opinions and recommendations between candidates. We have been reviewing local elections and government agencies in Lake County since 2005. The list will contain links to videos of the candidates if we have them. They usually are from the Lake County Republican Party "Coffee with the Republican Candidates", where they answer questions submitted by well-informed Republican attendees. Our outlook is to support grassroots Republican candidates, not establishment or RINOs or Democrats.
- Election candidate video links. We post and will add more candidate videos on our Rumble.com channel at https://rumble.com/c/c-1246532 or just search on "FiscalRangers" to find them. We have many earlier 2024 and prior Lake County political and candidate videos on our YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@FiscalRangersFlorida or search on YouTube for FiscalRangersFlorida. We prioritize video uploads on Rumble.com because YouTube has refused to post some of our political videos "due to our policy", and Rumble does not.
- You can find our FiscalRangers.com blog posts at that site on local political events. Also check the rightmost column which has pages like this one on many local or political topics.
- You can find some of our posts on our Facebook GROUP https://www.facebook.com/groups/FiscalRangers
- By mid-August, we should have all our links, posts, and recommendations finalized.
OUR FISCALRANGERS.COM Republican or conservative RECOMMENDATIONS BELOW ARE BY EDITOR VANCE JOCHIM - UPDATED BELOW on Aug 17, 2024. These are my personal opinions. I have been active in Lake County Republican politics and writing about local politics since 2005.
Initial Recommendations - again, we focus on grassroots Republicans, not establishment or RINOs or incompetent incumbents.
Election DIRTY TRICKS to watch out for:
Explaining the Jordan Brothers Election Dirty Tricks Wolfpack: The "Jordan Brothers Dirty Tricks Wolfpack (or Cartel)" refers to the Lake County, FL "Republicans" involved in or supporting the backstabbing of incumbent Property Appraiser Carey Baker, when Lake County Tax Collector David Jordan and his brother Mark Jordan, plus Eustis Mayor Michael Holland and Randy McClain (works for Jordan), waited past the candidate filing deadline at the Lake County Superintendant of Elections office, and then filed unskilled, unknown Mark Jordan (brother of David Jordan) for Lake County Property Appraiser, after knowing incumbent Baker had filed as a write-in candidate, thinking there would be no other registrants. He did that to reduce required fees and had done that before. The result is that Mark Jordan will be the only Republican candidate on the ballot, and voters must know to WRITE IN the name Carey Baker (recommended by virtually all active Republicans in Lake County.
This issue is widely covered in the local press and social media, so we assume you know what happened.
Other folks affiliated with the Jordan Brothers Dirty Tricks Wolfpack, in my opinion, include Nan Cobb, Carolyn Maimone, Monica Wofford and others who favor higher taxes to subsidize hospitals and favor establishment candidates not focused on grassroots or conservative issues. For instance, Nan Cobb was on the Eustis City Council and voted for higher taxes for several years, according to a post by Carey Baker. Thus we do not recommend votes for either Nan Cobb or Carolyn Maimone, who are on the ballot.
The main four Dirty Tricks Wolfpack leaders also filed over 100 registration forms for Republican Precinct men or women to gain power and take over the local Republican Party. This bypassed the normal process of precinct captains taking a class and getting approval from the Lake County Republican Party. We are told that perhaps 50% of those Wolfpack supporters filed in precincts they did not live in, and will be contested. Amazingly, the Supt. of Elections office fails to vet data like addresses on Precinct filing forms and relies on what the registrant enters on the form.
The Wolfpack members have tried other methods in the last 8 years to take over the Lake County Republican Party to support increased hospital taxes and support establishment candidates but did not succeed. They rarely ever participated in local Republican events, fundraising, voter registration programs, monthly meetings, Republican parades, etc. They are not, in my opinion, grassroots Republicans and just might fit the definition of an establishment candidate RINO (Republican in Name Only).
Other Election DIRTY TRICKS
- Candidates will try to suggest they have huge contributions, but most of it might be a LOAN from the candidate. You have to visit the Supt. of Elections site or Sec. Of State site to inspect contribution records. I have seen Constitutional Officers start right out posting a 50k or 100k starting load to intimidate other possible opponents, then they don't spend that and pay themselves back after the race.
- Use of nasty mailing "attack" pieces to selected voters sent by third-party Political Action Committees (PACs). When you look at the return address on the mailer or candidate statement and it is some unknown group located OUTSIDE Lake County, FL, and not the candidate, you have to ask what favors they expect from the candidate for spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on mailers or phone messages. Four such firms that support Keith Truenow for Florida Senate have sent out over 20 attack mailers against his main opponent, Bowen Kou. Each mailer usually costs around $10,000. What has Truenow promised to the PACS for all the funds they are spending to support him? One nasty attack mailer from Doug Shields supporters against Anthony Sabatini dredged up stupid college pranks from 20 years ago without saying so. Nan Cobb (another Wolfpack member) has supporters mailing out attack pieces against opponents. My advice is if anyone's supporters send out a PAC mail or text message and is a nasty hit piece, don't vote for them.
- Using campaign materials trying to associate the candidate with Donald Trump or Ron DeSantis by including their pictures next to the candidate's picture. We are checking now to verify if actual endorsements exist, or if these flyers/mailers are trying to imply a fake endorsement because the candidate has no track record of conservative achievements.
- Citing conservative emotional mantras like fix the border, or reduce the budget without ANY evidence they have done that in the past, and the position has minimal or NO power to solve national problems.
- Use of alternate candidates to SPLIT the vote of a strong opponent. For example, if a male and female are running, another female may result in splitting the vote for those who just want a female, thus the male's primary female opponent would have lower votes. You can tell when the alternate candidate spends little money, etc. just relying on uninformed voters voting for them based on sex, party, etc. Sometimes clueless, honest candidates file based upon some issue and end up splitting the votes for a key candidate. So, don't waste your votes on vote-splitter candidates. Check their contributions to see if they have high monetary support, or that they are a well-known Republican Party supporter, not an unknown candidate. An example of vote splitting could be Jonathan Germeroth, a good friend of Ralph Smith, who hasn't attended Republican meetings for years, but filed for Republican State Committeeman, perhaps to split votes away from favored Chuck Benoit since Germeroth is a good friend of Ralph Smith. Germeroth has not been active in the Lake County Republican Party for years, and should not even be running for this position.
- Use of emotional or vague promises. I no longer trust "I am a conservative" candidates who can never cite any actual achievements and just blast out nice-sounding conservative goals as a reason to vote for them. We need an agency that follows up on such bland promises and has the power to oust them if they do not achieve anything.
- Democrats commonly will switch to the Republican Party registration so they can claim to be a conservative to get elected, then like School Board member Mollie Cunningham, they switch to supporting liberal causes and take contributions from Democrats and Unions.
- RINOS are Republican in Name Only. There is a big difference between those who attend, support and work within the Lake County Republican Party, and those who just happen to be registered as a Republican but never attend Republican meetings, donate, etc.
- Lake County is heavily conservative and Republican. One reason is the ACTIVE Lake County Republican Party members spent lots of time and funds to grow Republican voter registrations. Several candidates below have no track record of participating in Republican projects. Thus liberals will try many ways to insert themselves into the political arena, so watch for the tricks. It could be by applying to appointed, non-partisan city or county committees to get into positions of power. Big government and control of citizens is their main objective, while most Republicans want LESS government.
- Creating emotional trigger events to BUILD liberal division, support and getting out voters. This is a Democrat favorite. I don't think I have ever seen Republicans plan or do this. Every election cycle, school Unions will come up with some emotional event staging an event where gays or Dems attack elected officials, like during public input, to get them to say something stupid on video that can be used as a rallying cry. Examples are accusing Lake County Board members (true story) for practicing white privilege. Or finding some rule that prevents liberal objectives like forming an ethnic or gay club at a middle school, then getting students to provide emotional statements at press conferences they call in order to "activate" their liberal base voters. I have examples of these on video tape. This hasn't happened much in the last four years, but I am waiting.
- Running for a position in another district than where the candidate lives. The candidate promises to move, but when elected, does not move. Election rules generally do not mandate moving until the election is decided. The most famous local case is when Tim Sullivan ran for Lake County Commission, said he would move, then used a rented address in the new district but actually did not move. Currently, Anthony Sabatini is running for a County Commission District where he does not live. He said he plans to buy a new home in the new district when elected, so people are waiting to see if that happens.
- If you know about an election dirty trick now or in the past, let me know. Post a comment.
Our Recommendations for your Republican votes for Lake County 2024 local election candidates on the August 20 primary ballot.
Note: Do NOT vote TOO EARLY. Due to dirty tricks and tactics including attack mailings by faceless Political Action Committees, we suggest you don't vote too early, or you might miss updates & responses about mailings to you that are misrepresentations of Republican candidates.
Supt. of Elections - VOTE Tom Vail for Supt of Elections (not Alan Hays). We will provide much info in blog postings soon, but here is just one question: Why did Alan Hays allow Dirty Tricks Mark Jordan to pull his earlier candidate filing AFTER the filing DEADLINE and allow him to then file for Property Appraiser up to 40 minutes after the required filing deadline. Why did he allow the wolfpack to turn in over 100 precinct captain filings after the deadline? Why hasn't Hays answered or proved that his voting machines do not contain internal code or circuitry externally controlled via circuits/code/cell phone modem connections to alter voting results? Instead, he calls critics liars and claims his staff is honorable. In my opinion, as a retired information systems auditor and anti-corruption manager, he rarely has addressed evidence provided to him about fake votes, etc. VOTE for TOM VAIL for Lake County Supt. of Elections, who has a law degree, an MBA, management experience and energy to fix many commonly reported problems with election processes.
Carey Baker (Write-In) for Property Appraiser should get your WRITE-IN vote vs the sneaky, unethical Jordan Brothers Dirty Tricks Wolfpack who sneaked in unproven Mark Jordan for the ballot after filing deadlines. Jordan never attended any Hob Nobs, public voter forums, debates or interviews for the position.
Demand that incumbent David Jordan, Tax Collector, RESIGN for leading the Jordan Brothers Dirty Tricks Wolfpack in filing his brother Mark Jordan for Property Appraiser after deadlines and without any public forums or speeches.
Lake County, FL Commission Dist. 1 - Vote for Anthony Sabatini, (not incumbent Doug Shields). Sabatini is chair of the Lake County Republicans and was running for a US House position against Dan Webster, until President Trump announced his endorsement of ALL incumbent Congressmen, regardless of their weaknesses (i.e. Dan Webster), in order to eliminate Republican infighting. Anthony honored Trump's request and dropped out of opposing Dan Webster for Congress while losing hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on that race. Incumbent Lake County Commissioner Doug Shields is an affable retiree and possible RINO from the Federal Government and rarely initiates anything or says much in meetings. Ignore the nasty attack mailings sent out by Shield's establishment supporters using separate Political Action Committees. Newbie candidate Sam Simmons is a great family candidate but has very little funding or support except from family members.We need an active County Board member like Anthony Sabatini to fix traffic, housing, water and other grassroots issues in Lake County.
Florida Senate Dist. 13 - We recommend Bowen Kou vs Keith Truenow - both have negatives but Truenow avoids Republican interactions and appears to be mostly focused on the Agriculture industry issues. He is heavily supported by at least FOUR faceless Political Action Committees spending over a million dollars on over 20 mailed nasty mailers attacking Kou. What did Truenow promise them to get such PAC support or what do they expect from him? Check out Bowen's website: https://www.electbowen.com/ Vote Bowen Kou.
North Lake County Hospital District - Vote Ralph Smith (incumbent), not opponent Carolyn Maimone, who in my opinion, supported the Jordan Brothers Dirty Tricks Wolfpack. Ralph works to REDUCE the unneeded Hospital taxes in North Lake County, while Maimone supports the hospitals asking for higher property taxes on YOUR home when hardly any other Florida County has this hospital district tax. Do not confuse this with another office that Ralph is running for where I do NOT endorse him.
Lake County School Board Dist. 4 - Vote Gavin Rollins, and not incumbent Mollie Cunningham. She is a very nice, retired High School Principal who originally ran as a Republican the first time she won, but she now takes contributions from Democrats and Unions. She is a very nice lady but not when she switches parties. Gavin is very educated, finishing law school and is a former teacher. Here is Gavin's website: https://www.facebook.com/GavinRollins26/
US House Dist 11 - Vote John McCloy for US House Dist. 11, and not incumbent Dan Webster, who has a terrible attendance record in Congress and completely avoids attending any Republican events. However, McCloy has few funds and will probably be crushed by incumbent Webster but Webster needs to improve. Webster claims endorsement by Donald Trump, but that is because Trump called for unity among Republicans and endorsed ALL incumbent Republicans to reduce strife, even if they were weak and not effective.
FL House Dist 26 - Vote for Mike Levine due to his long-time activism in supporting local Republican grassroots actions. Opponent & Realtor Addie Owens is great but has no track record on Republican groups and issues. Recent mailings claim Owens "is a fake, liberal Republican" who was not a Republican for the 2016 and 2018 elections, which I am attempting to verify. Also, do NOT vote for another opponent Nan Cobb, who in my opinion is a RINO and a supporter of the Jordan Brothers Dirty Tricks Wolfpack. She also is supported by nasty mailed and messaged hit pieces from far away Political Action Committees, mostly attacking Levine and Owens. What do those PACS expect from Nan Cobb? What did she promise them? Another opponent who only filed just before the deadline is Keith Farner who previously did a good job as chair of the Lake County Water Authority. However, Farner started late, and is spending little money, so won't be a major factor in the race. Thus, VOTE FOR MIKE LEVINE for FL House Dist. 26.
Clermont City Council: Support Tod Howard, who is a great conservative choice who was a great Lake County School Board member in the past, and the Lake County Republican Party endorses him. Update: He DID get elected in the municipal elections and is already on the City Council.
Clermont City Council: More to be added soon. There is no info on municipal (city) election candidates on the Lake County Supv. of Elections website or the Clermont website. This is abysmal transparency. For local city candidates, you may be on your own to research them.
State Republican CommitteeMAN for Lake County: VOTE for Chuck Benoit over Ralph Smith (who is also running for Hospital District above where I DO support him), because Chuck has been entirely focused on this position, while Ralph misses meetings, comes late, and rarely has any details on RPOF (Republican Party of Florida) meetings, which is a main duty for this position. Chuck recently won over Ralph in a Lake County Republican HobNob by 87 to 37. The position is the main male representative for the Lake County Republican Party (Democrats also have such a position), and needs to focus on implementing local, grassroots issues at the RPOF level. VOTE Chuck Benoit for Florida State Republican CommitteeMAN for Lake County
State Republican CommitteeWOMAN for Lake County: Vote for challenger June Lang (she is the Secretary for the Lake County Republicans) over incumbent Barbara Price because she will focus on just this position and not split her attention by running other groups and activities like Barbara. June won a straw poll held recently by the Golden Triangle Federation of Women Republicans. However, Barbara is well known and did beat June in a recent Lake County Republican HobNob by 63 to 51, while a third candidate, Kathy Carlson got 23. If Carlson had not been in contention, I figure June would have won. Barbara has contributed much to the Lake County Republican Party but is splitting her time between too many duties and June would focus just on this position. VOTE for JUNE LANG for Florida State Republican CommitteeWOMAN for Lake County.
Judges - are non-partisan races
For the Circuit or Court level Judges below, since they won't discuss why they don't set limits on never ending lawsuits that bankrupt some parties (but make attorneys wealthy), I recommend either not voting, or vote for the new challenger and not the incumbent.
They refuse to discuss why they allow attorneys to keep filing documents running up costs for taxpayers and both litigation parties while the attorneys rake in fees. Some say the BAR demands the Judges not curtail attorney filings or set time limits on cases. I am watching a case now where an unmarried couple had a child, and over 6 years the attorneys have run up over 331 docket items, and one attorney for the father keeps filing added court docket items to run up the bill, then constantly asks the Judge to award her attorney fees from the mother.
The Judicial system is fiscally out of control by allowing non-ending court battles, then they build up a court backlog, then ask for new court facilities and demand more Judges funded by taxpayers. Based upon those reasons, it is my opinion that I do not consider that system or the Florida Judicial System ethical or fiscally prudent.
But below are the current Lake County area Judge candidates I know about. These positions are non-partisan (like the School Board) thus candidates can be from any political party.
MORE DETAILS on Judges will be added as we get them.
The first three positions below are NOT on the Lake County Supv. of Elections Current Elections page, but they ARE listed on my sample ballot. Why??? My opinions below are based upon various discussions and I do not disclose which person they are from.
Circuit Judge, 5th Judicial Dist., Group 7: Vote Erin Daly in this race between Erin Daly and Derek Saltsman
Circuit Judge, 5th Judicial Dist., Group 13: Vote Zach McCormick vs Heidi Davis
Circuit Judge, 5th Judicial Dist., Group 20: Vote Ben Boylston vs Barbara Kissner Kwatkosky
County Court Judge, Group 4: Vote for Chad Monty vs Francheska Sabatini - I support Chad J. Monty, who is the incumbent appointed by Gov. DeSantis and has much more prosecution experience than Franchesca Sabatini, who mostly has experience in administrative municipal legal actions and not court actions in my opinion. Judges are prohibited from "marketing" or showing political bias, so it is really hard to get info on their views, but I have met both of the above and support Monty, who has much more court prosecution experience which a Judge should have. However, Sabatini is married to Anthony Sabatini, thus has name recognition, and may have a chance running against incumbent Monty, who Governor DeSantis appointed. She has over $50k in her contribution account and is sending out vague phone message marketing pitches, avoiding her lack of court & trial experience. A County Court Judge is like entry level for judges, and they handle small claims court, traffic tickets, etc. If I am wrong, it is because the Judicial system prevents transparency over judges or even the position requirements and responsibilities.
State of Florida Constitutional Amendments or Ballot Issues
State Amendments are on the November ballot only, not the August 20 ballot. So we will update this document and add coverage of those Amendments after August 20 for the Nov. ballot items.
This work in progress list will be revised and updated with more supporting details as we get them.
Vance Jochim - [email protected]
Please post any comments on this blog or email me and I will approve them if they are relevant (even if you disagree, but post WHY).
Note: To see videos of many of the Republican candidates above, check my Rumble.com/FiscalRangers channel. Older videos are on my YouTube channel at FiscalRangersFlorida.
