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The Sunshine Economy

The Sunshine Economy: Election Eve In Florida

The finger-pointing and mudslinging almost is over. There is an end to the negative ads. Floridians will choose their next governor and it's safe to say that man already has served as governor. And he has served as a Republican. 

It seems like after almost a year of campaigning, it’s an understatement to call it a unique election season, even by Florida's standards. Voters witnessed fangate. President Clinton returned to the Florida campaign trail. Possible future Republican presidential candidate New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has visited. Fellow rumored GOP 2016 White House contender and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush made campaign stops.

But let's talk about the money. The Center for Public Integrity estimates about $80 million has been spent on television advertising in this governor's race. Most of it has come from the political parties and most of the ads have been negative.  Just listen:

2014-Negative_Ads.mp3
A sampling of the negative ads in the 2014 Florida governor's race.

Then there's the economy. Governor Rick Scott and former Governor Charlie Crist have sparred regularly over job creation over the past four years of Scott's administration and the previous four years when Crist was governor. Here they are during their third gubernatorial debate on CNN:

On_Jobs.mp3
Governor Scott and former Governor Crist trade barbs over jobs during their CNN gubernatorial debate.

They may argue over who gets credit and who gets blame for the Florida job market, but the data doesn't attribute changes to any politician. That's for voters to decide.

It seems like after almost a year of campaigning it's an understatement to call it a unique election season. Even by Florida standards.

Next, education. Governor Scott and Governor Crist have used their education policies to appeal to their political bases. Governor Scott has spoken about Florida's own state standards instead of using the federal government's Common Core, though there is plenty of overlap. Governor Crist has campaigned on less testing. Governor Scott trumpets his 2014-2015 education spending as the most in state history. Governor Crist is quick to point out spending per pupil was higher when he was in office.  

Govs_on_Education.mp3
Gov. Scott and former Gov. Crist on education from their second gubernatorial debate.

Public education per K-12 student in Florida under both governors remains below the national average, though.

How about the environment? Both governors have acted on Everglades clean-up. Governor Scott settled a longstanding lawsuit over restoration. Governor Crist forged a land deal to buy sugar fields and return their to a natural state.

Govs_on_Everglades.mp3
Gov. Scott and former Gov. Crist discuss what they have done to restore and protect the Everglades during one of their three gubernatorial debates.

And what about housing? The housing collapse may have been four years ago, but Florida remains the number one state for home foreclosures, according to market research firm RealtyTrac. Some 40,000 homes in Miami are in some stage of foreclosure: default, auction or bank-owned.  It’s more than 12,000 in Fort Lauderdale and 8700 in West Palm Beach.  

Here's what the foreclosure activity in Florida looks like today according to market research firm RealtyTrac:

Neither candidate has talked about housing. In a search of transcripts of all three of the gubernatorial debates, the word housing appears only four times.  Once by a panelist in a question, and three times by Governor Scott in variations of these:

 

Scott-PublicHousing.mp3
Housing did not come up in any of the three debates between Gov. Scott and former Gov. Crist, except for Scott's reference of his upbringing in public housing.

The polls open at 7 a.m. Tuesday and close at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Who will you vote for?

Tom Hudson is WLRN's Senior Economics Editor and Special Correspondent.