Frequently Asked Questions

VoteWater.org is comprised of volunteers who are experienced water quality advocates throughout the state of Florida. Many come from the non-profit sector that are not able to weigh in on political campaigns but have used their knowledge of the issues to volunteer for VoteWater.org in their personal time. You can read more on the About Us page.

To help ensure water quality concerns in Florida get stronger representation and political action from our elected officials throughout the state of Florida. We must reach a critical mass of educated and strong elected officials before these issues are addressed in a meaningful way by our legislative bodies. Learn more on our solutions page.

The County Captains do, in collaboration with our team. The captains are a nonpartisan volunteer group of individuals from around the state, many who have been fighting for better water management in their local communities for decades. The group consists of business leaders, educators, fishing guides, mothers, fathers, sons and daughters.

The one check, two check and three check rating system was designed to give voters a good, better, best option whenever possible.  Generally, no response to the questionnaire from a candidate resulted in no rating. But, the VW team also was called upon to make judgement calls based on a candidate's track record, responses to our questionnaire, and any negative data found in the process.

Special interest groups, especially the Sugar industry in Florida, have proven to be a corruptive force in state politics for decades. Our 2020 analysis revealed US Sugar and FL Crystals alone pumped over $6 million into influencing the outcome of Florida Senate and Florida House races.

By investigating the public campaign finance databases, the Vote Water team was able to identify specific candidates accepting money from various Political Action Committees who receive the majority of their donations from the very industries undermining water quality efforts in Florida.

Dirty Money ratings are as follows:

• Dirty: The candidate has accepted thousands of dollars from groups detrimental to Florida water quality
• Mixed: The candidate accepted less than $1000 from these groups
• Clean: The candidate did not accept any money from these groups
• Incomplete/Empty: The candidate's campaign finances were not yet investigated

From any county voter guide, click on a candidate's name to go to their standalone page. If they answered the questionnaire, there are 5 expandable blocks that have the questions and their answers. They were all asked the same four questions and then the fifth was changed out for federal, state and local races, including a question targeted to the three water management districts we focused on.

The questionnaire is one of several factors we consider when analyzing a candidate's strengths and weaknesses on water issues. We also take into consideration past positions, voting record, past campaign contributions, environmental work, candidate interviews, and their position to affect meaningful policy changes.

Yes, VoteWater will be re-evaluating candidates throughout the run up to the election and may decide to modify ratings if new information comes to light.

Being volunteer-based, and with the evolution from Bullsugar voting guides to Votewater, there just wasn't enough time or resources to effectively cover more counties or races. However, with the early success of the VW team we look to expand in both geography and the number of races for the next election cycle.

Please send an email to team@votewater.org with candidate information and your request.

VoteWater.org is a bullsugar.org campaign. Bullsugar.org is a 501c4 non-profit organization based in Stuart, FL founded in 2014 with the goal of stopping the toxic Lake Okeechobee discharges to our coasts and sending clean water south to the Everglades and Florida Bay. In 2018 the Bullsugar.org Voter Guides received over 350,000 visits from people looking for direction on clean water candidates.

The VoteWater.org campaign is both a grassroots effort shared by an army of water warriors spreading the word, but it is also supported by a significant traditional media campaign such as full page ads in Florida Sportsman magazine and TV commercials as well as social media campaigns. In addition, hundreds of VoteWater yard signs can be found throughout coastal Florida thanks to our most enthusiastic supporters.

You can make a donation!

With your support, we can ensure that voters will have clean-water choices from both parties in the upcoming election.  Our primary goal is always to amplify the Clean Water Voter Guides. We're looking to fund traditional advertising campaigns on television and magazines, as well as social and text messaging programs. And certainly, we want as many yard signs out as possible closer to the election dates.

You can contact your candidate and pressure them to support VoteWater.org and engage in our process.  LET YOUR REPRESENTATIVE KNOW THAT VOTEWATER REPRESENTS YOU ON OUR WATER ISSUES.

You can also help spread the word about this important initiative via social media. Thank you!