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Articles by: Gil Smart

Happy holidays from VoteWater – and may Santa bring you cleaner water this year!

December 22, 2022

Happy Holidays from VoteWater! Fighting for cleaner water in Florida is an uphill battle. It can be discouraging and infuriating. Our side doesn’t have the same money, the same number of lobbyists; the same influence in the capitol. But what…

The election is over; the fight for clean water is not

November 9, 2022

The 2022 general election has come and gone; how, ultimately, will it impact Florida’s troubled waters? We’ll find out soon enough. Two VoteWater endorsed candidates prevailed last night; Congressman Brian Mast won re-lection to his 21st District seat; in the…

Voter guides: Who’s getting dirty money – and why it matters

October 24, 2022

We’ve got an election coming up in two weeks. Do you know which campaigns are keeping it clean — and which campaigns are powered by “dirty money?” “Dirty money” means political contributions from special interests to candidates, or to political…

While other issues dominate the headlines, we can’t take our eye off the ball – clean water

October 18, 2022

Environmental concerns haven’t been high on the campaign agenda this year. Particularly at the state level, abortion and inflation take up a lot of bandwidth. At the federal level cultural and pocketbook issues also predominate. Our foundational cause, clean water…

VoteWater releases 2022 Voter Guide, endorses 11 candidates

October 11, 2022

The environmental advocacy group VoteWater has released its 2022 General Election Voter Guide, designed to help voters in 15 Florida counties identify clean-water candidates. The guides, available at VoteWater.org/voter-guides, include endorsements for 11 candidates. Three of those endorsements were announced…

VoteWater endorses Brian Mast, Lindsay Cross ahead of Nov. 8 election

October 4, 2022

Republican Congressman Brian Mast and Lindsay Cross, Democratic candidate for Florida House District 60, were endorsed this week by the environmental advocacy group VoteWater. “Brian Mast has been an absolute warrior when it comes to clean-water issues on the Treasure…

Un-endorsement: Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick said she wouldn’t take sugar money – then did

August 19, 2022

Our survey question to Congressional candidates this cycle was pretty simple: Special interests like Florida’s powerful sugar industry spend lavishly to influence elections, with “Big Sugar,” the phosphate mining industry and big utilities, among others, spending hundreds of millions of…

In U.S. District 27 race, Russell never misses a chance to slam Big Sugar

August 17, 2022

At VoteWater, one of our core issues has always been the corrupting influence of money in politics. Political campaigns require funding, and everyone is entitled to give as they see fit. Yet the reality is, the biggest corporate entities give…

Crist for governor, because Fried is too close to Big Sugar

August 16, 2022

VoteWater has endorsed Charlie Crist in the Democratic gubernatorial primary, over Nikki Fried. There are several big reasons for this: First, as we first reported last week, Fried’s campaign has taken a boatload – as in, more than half a…

Guest post: Key West Mayor Johnston backed cruise ship reform – and now has a target on her back

August 15, 2022

The following is a guest post from a concerned Key West citizen regarding the Mayoral race between incumbent Teri Johnston and challenger Margaret Romero. Key West Mayor Teri Johnston has been on the front lines of local efforts to protect…

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