Bullsugar.org Voter Guides are now live at bullsugar.org/vote.

We need your help: Please share them with everyone you know who cares about clean water. The guides are organized by county, they include Democrats and Republicans committed to solving Florida’s water crisis, and they highlight key races where voters can make real difference right away.

In one high-profile contest, they already have. Adam Putnam, called one of the “toxic trio” for his role in greenlighting the surge of pollution that led to this year’s blooms on both coasts, had all but moved into the governor’s mansion this spring–his election was just a formality.

Instead Floridians have an unprecedented choice for governor: two candidates who openly acknowledge the influence of the sugar industry on Florida’s water and campaign on plans to address this crisis at its source. Ron DeSantis and Andrew Gillum are both clean water choices to replace Rick Scott–the second member of Florida’s toxic trio.

Bullsugar.org endorsed Bill Nelson for US Senate. Nelson has made Florida’s water a focus of his campaign; Scott has made it the disaster you see on the news. We can’t afford another six years of Scott or the sugarcane-influenced policy that’s making people sick, closing beaches, and killing economies from coast-to-coast.

We also endorsed Nikki Fried against the third member of the toxic trio, Matt Caldwell, in the race for agricultural commissioner. Caldwell’s district is awash in death and choking toxins, the direct result of his work to eliminate pollution controls and block long-term solutions to this crisis. DeSantis called Agricultural Commissioner Adam Putman an errand boy for Big Sugar, and Caldwell is proud to be the sugar-backed candidate in the contest to replace him. Florida deserves better.

Politics vs. Voting Water

Recently a reporter asked why environmental activist Erin Brockovich was standing next to Bullsugar.org-endorsed Republican congressman Brian Mast. Her answer: To solve a human health crisis.

In her words, I’m not a right-and-left person, I’m a right-and-wrong person. And this is wrong.

Our crisis is bigger than politics. Brockovich came to Stuart to stand with Bullsugar and Mast in front of our ruined river, to support federal legislation that does the right thing: prioritize people’s health and safety in water management decisions.

That legislation, the Stop Harmful Discharge Act (HR 6700), is an important part of why Bullsugar.org endorsed Mast. His district has seen toxic discharges under Republicans and Democrats, but somehow none of his predecessors ever went to congress to speak against the policies behind them. That’s wrong. And it’s why voting water matters.

Red tide closed Atlantic beaches this week. Lifeguards wearing respirators are already old news on the Gulf coast. But these conditions are ideal for the two billionaire sugar families whose political influence controls South Florida water policy, and the candidates they fund–Democrats and Republicans–aren’t saying a word.

Erin Brockovich’s message is powerful here. She’s seen this before. Neither party is committed to doing the right thing, but lots of candidates on both sides of the aisle are. Please find them in the Bullsugar Voter Guides and Vote Water.