Dems are Leading in Vote Tallies

Duval County Supervisor of Elections > Election Information > 2015 Duval First Election Voter Turnout

Democrat must keep the momentum going during Early Voting.  We have a slight lead over Republicans, but need to increase that advantage if we want to win in the races for Mayor, Sheriff and Supervisor of Elections AND take control of City Council.

But we must turnout the vote as if we're in a Presidential election! Please help get your family and friends to the Polls for Early Voting through March 22.  Then, work hard to get everyone else to the Polls on Election Day on March 24.

And remember, the last day to request a Vote By Mail (VBM) ballot is March 18 at 5 pm.  Call the Supervisor of Elections Office at 904-630-1414.


Vote Smart - VOTE BLUE!

Democrats Know How to Grow State Revenues, the Economy, Jobs, Personal Wealth, the Minimum Wage!

This Billionaire Governor Taxed the Rich and Increased the Minimum Wage -- Now, His State's Economy Is One of the Best in the Country

Posted: 02/24/2015 4:58 pm EST Updated: 02/24/2015 4:59 pm EST

The next time your right-wing family member or former high school classmate posts a status update or tweet about how taxing the rich or increasing workers' wages kills jobs and makes businesses leave the state, I want you to send them this article.

When he took office in January of 2011, Minnesota governor Mark Dayton inherited a$6.2 billion budget deficit and a 7 percent unemployment rate from his predecessor, Tim Pawlenty, the soon-forgotten Republican candidate for the presidency who called himself Minnesota's first true fiscally-conservative governor in modern history. Pawlenty prided himself on never raising state taxes -- the most he ever did to generate new revenue was increase the tax on cigarettes by 75 cents a pack. Between 2003 and late 2010, when Pawlenty was at the head of Minnesota's state government,he managed to add only 6,200 more jobs.

During his first four years in office, Gov. Dayton raised the state income tax from 7.85 to 9.85 percent on individuals earning over $150,000, and on couples earning over $250,000 when filing jointly -- a tax increase of $2.1 billion. He's also agreed to raise Minnesota's minimum wage to $9.50 an hour by 2018, and passed a state lawguaranteeing equal pay for women. Republicans like state representative Mark Uglemwarned against Gov. Dayton's tax increases, saying, "The job creators, the big corporations, the small corporations, they will leave. It's all dollars and sense to them." The conservative friend or family member you shared this article with would probably say the same if their governor tried something like this. But like Uglem, they would be proven wrong.

Between 2011 and 2015, Gov. Dayton added 172,000 new jobs to Minnesota's economy -- that's 165,800 more jobs in Dayton's first term than Pawlenty added in both of his terms combined. Even though Minnesota's top income tax rate is the 4th-highest in the country, it has the 5th-lowest unemployment rate in the country at 3.6 percent. According to 2012-2013 U.S. census figures, Minnesotans had a median income that was $10,000 larger than the U.S. average, and their median income is still $8,000 more than the U.S. average today.

By late 2013, Minnesota's private sector job growth exceeded pre-recession levels, and the state's economy was the 5th fastest-growing in the United States. Forbes even ranked Minnesota the 9th-best state for business (Scott Walker's "Open For Business" Wisconsin came in at a distant #32 on the same list). Despite the fearmongering over businesses fleeing from Dayton's tax cuts, 6,230 more Minnesotans filed in the top income tax bracket in 2013, just one year after Dayton's tax increases went through. As of January 2015, Minnesota has a $1 billion budget surplus, and Gov. Dayton has pledged to reinvest more than one third of that money into public schools. And according to Gallup, Minnesota's economic confidence is higher than any other state

Gov. Dayton didn't accomplish all of these reforms by shrewdly manipulating people -- this article describes Dayton's astonishing lack of charisma and articulateness. He isn't a class warrior driven by a desire to get back at the 1 percent -- Dayton is a billionaire heir to the Target fortune. It wasn't just a majority in the legislature that forced him to do it -- Dayton had to work with a Republican-controlled legislature for his first two years in office. And unlike his Republican neighbor to the east, Gov. Dayton didn't assert his will over an unwilling populace by creating obstacles between the people and the vote -- Dayton actually created an online voter registration system, making it easier than ever for people to register to vote.

The reason Gov. Dayton was able to radically transform Minnesota's economy into one of the best in the nation is simple arithmetic. Raising taxes on those who can afford to pay more will turn a deficit into a surplus. Raising the minimum wage will increase the median income. And in a state where education is a budget priority and economic growth is one of the highest in the nation, it only makes sense that more businesses would stay.

It's official -- trickle-down economics is bunk. Minnesota has proven it once and for all. If you believe otherwise, you are wrong.

Follow Carl Gibson on Twitter: www.twitter.com/uncutCG

Justices to wade into Florida’s redistricting fight | Post On Politics

Justices to wade into Florida’s redistricting fight | Post On Politics


It looks like Florida's highly controversial redistricting plan is still in question.

According to Post on Politics, challenges from "...The Florida League of Women Voters, Common Cause and several Democratic voters..." asking our State Supreme court to review the original and revised plans. The challenge seems to flow from the fact that the original plan was thrown out by a Leon County Circuit Judge who found the first plan had dawn district lines for US Congresspersons Daniel Webster (R) and Corrine Brown (D) "...to help Republicans maintain overwhelming control...".

It ain't over till it's over.


Vote Smart  VOTE BLUE!