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Florida Candidates' Survey on Motorcyclists' Rights and Awareness

On September 20, 2010, ABATE of Florida, Inc. dispatched a survey via email to 217 of the candidates seeking State Office in Florida.  This survey went to candidates for Florida State Senate, Florida House of Representatives, and Governor of Florida.  Even though email address were not publicly available for all of the candidates, the majority of those running for a State Office in Florida received the invitation to participate in this survey.

The following candidates received an invitation to take our survey:

For Governor of Florida:

Name Party
Peter Allen IND
Daniel Imperato NPA
Farid Khavari NPA
CC Reed NPA
Rick Scott REP
Alex Sink DEM
John Smith LIB

For the Florida Senate:

Name District Party   Name District Party
Greg Evers 2 REP   Steve Edmonds 24 NPA
Don Gaetz 4 REP   Ellyn Bogdanoff 25 REP
David H. Abrams 4 TEA   Miranda Rosenberg 25 NPA
Bill Montford 6 DEM   Kelly Skidmore 25 DEM
John Shaw 6 REP   Mike Haridopolos 26 REP
Deborah Gianoulis 8 DEM   Lizbeth Benacquisto 27 REP
John Thrasher 8 REP   Kevin Rader 27 DEM
Ronda R. Storms 10 REP   Joe Negron 28 REP
Jim Norman 12 REP   Maria Lorts Sachs 30 DEM
Perry C. McGriff, Jr. 14 DEM   Patrick Laffey 32 REP
Steve Oelrich 14 REP   Jeremy Ring 32 DEM
Nina Hayden 16 DEM   Nan H. Rich 34 DEM
Jack Latvala 16 REP   Gwen Margolis 35 DEM
Arthenia L. Joyner 18 DEM   Corey B. Poitier 35 NPA
Eunice Garbutt 20 DEM   Miguel Diaz de la Portilla 36 REP
Alan Hays 20 REP   Anitere Flores 38 REP
David Simmons 22 REP   Les Gerson 38 DEM
Thad Altman 24 REP   Rene Garcia 40 REP

For the Florida House of Representatives

Name

District Party   Name District Party
Doug Broxson 1 REP   Joe Redner 58 NPA
Mathias Venditto 1 NPA   Shawn Harrison 60 REP
Jeremy Bagnell 2 WRI   Russ Patterson 60 DEM
Clay Ingram 2 REP   Elena McCullough 61 DEM
Claudia Brown-Curry 3 DEM   Will Weatherford 61 REP
C. V. Ford 3 REP   Kelli Stargel 64 REP
John McDonald 6 DEM   Joshua Davis 65 NPA
Jimmy Patronis 6 REP   John Wood 65 REP
Marti Coley 7 REP   Ben Albritton 66 REP
David Pleat 7 DEM   Z. Hafeez 67 DEM
Kirk Headley-Perdue 9 REP   Greg Steube 67 REP
Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda 9 DEM   John Studebaker 67 NPA
Leonard Bembry 10 DEM   Jim Boyd 68 REP
David Feigin 10 REP   Dave Miner 68 NPA
Debbie Boyd 11 DEM   Keith Fitzgerald 69 DEM
Elizabeth Porter 11 REP   Ray Pilon 69 REP
Dave Baldwin 16 NPA   Nancy Feehan 70 DEM
Charles McBurney 16 REP   Doug Holder 70 REP
Lake Ray 17 REP   Ken Roberson 71 REP
John Rosso III 17 WRI   Andrew Saltman 71 DEM
Tom Collins 18 DEM   Matt Caldwell 73 REP
Ronald Renuart 18 REP   Raul Pantoja Rodriguez 73 TEA
Doug Courtney 20 DEM   Cole Peacock 73 DEM
William Proctor 20 REP   Stephen Cosgrove 75 NPA
Jon Paugh 22 DEM   Trudi Williams 75 REP
Keith Perry 22 REP   Jose Alvarez 79 TEA
Dennis Baxley 24 REP   Danny Davis 79 WRI
Michael Hageloh 24 DEM   Eddie Freeman 79 DEM
Larry Metz 25 REP   Mike Horner 79 REP
Frank Wood 25 DEM   Debbie Mayfield 80 REP
Fred Costello 26 REP   Adam Fetterman 81 DEM
Tim Huth 26 DEM   Gayle Harrell 81 REP
Christopher Kennedy 27 NPA   Mark Marciano 83 DEM
Dwayne Taylor 27 DEM   Pat Rooney 83 REP
Richard Dembinsky 28 WRI   Mack Bernard 84 DEM
Dorothy Hukill 28 REP   Albert Key 84 REP
Amy Tidd 30 DEM   Joseph Abruzzo 85 DEM
Ritch Workman 30 REP   Tami Donnally 85 REP
Jodi James 31 DEM   Bill Hager 87 REP
John Tobia 31 REP   Hava Holzhauer 87 DEM
Jason Brodeur 33 REP   Mark Pafford 88 DEM
Leo Cruz 33 DEM   Jeff Clemens 89 DEM
Franklin Perez 33 LIB   Steven Rosenblum 89 REP
Steve Barnes 34 DEM   Alison Rampersad 90 REP
John DeVries 34 TEA   Irving Slosberg 90 DEM
Chris Dorworth 34 REP   George Moraitis 91 REP
Dean Cannon 35 REP   Barbra Stern 91 DEM
Amy Mercado 35 DEM   Gwyndolen Clarke-Reed 92 DEM
Juanita Virone 35 TEA   Arthur Williams 92 WRI
Lawanna Gelzer 36 NPA   Evon Manning 94 WRI
Larry Limbaugh 36 WRI   Hazelle Rogers 94 DEM
Scott Randolph 36 DEM   James Waldman 95 DEM
Greg Reynolds 36 REP   Scott Yardley 95 REP
James Heinzelman 38 TEA   Ari Porth 96 DEM
Bryan Nelson 38 REP   Jason Weakley 96 TEA
Todd Christian 40 DEM   Kimberly Burgess 98 REP
Darin Dunmire 40 TEA   Franklin Sands 98 DEM
Eric Eisnaugle 40 REP   Edward Bender 100 NPA
Lee Douglas 41 DEM   Evan Jenne 100 DEM
Steve Precourt 41 REP   Matt Hudson 101 REP
H. O'Toole 42 REP   Larry Wilcoxson 101 NPA
Jeff Shoobridge 42 NPA   Eddy Gonzalez 102 REP
Diane Rowden 44 DEM   Cali Vallejo 102 WRI
Robert Schenck 44 REP   Gustavo Barreiro 107 REP
James Grant 47 REP   Luis Garcia 107 DEM
Michael Steinberg 47 DEM   Cristina Albright 111 DEM
Tom McKone 48 DEM   Erik Fresen 111 REP
Peter Nehr 48 REP   Jeanette Nunez 112 REP
Betty La Chance 49 NPA   Sandra Ruiz 112 DEM
Darren Soto 49 DEM   Robert Van Name 112 NPA
Ed Hooper 50 REP   Alex Cruzet 113 DEM
Larry Ahern 51 REP   Waldo Faura 113 NPA
Janet Long 51 DEM   Carlos Lopez-Cantera 113 REP
Jeff Brandes 52 REP   Millie Herrera 114 DEM
Bill Heller 52 DEM   Ana Logan 114 REP
Thomas Cuba 53 REP   Denny Wood 114 NPA
Rick Kriseman 53 DEM   Jose Diaz 115 REP
James Frishe 54 REP   Jeffrey Solomon 115 DEM
Mary Russell 54 DEM   Carlos Trujillo 116 REP
Joseph Graser 55 WRI   Michael Bileca 117 REP
Darryl Rouson 55 DEM   Lisa Lesperance 117 DEM
Rachel Burgin 56 REP   Dwight Bullard 118 DEM
David Chalela 56 DEM   Charles Lopez 118 REP
Lewis Laricchia 56 WRI   Frank Artiles 119 REP
Stacy Frank 57 DEM   Graziella Denny 119 NPA
Dana Young 57 REP   Katie Edwards 119 DEM
Janet Cruz 58 DEM   Ron Saunders 120 DEM

RESULTS

Of the above candidates, 31% responded.  Of those who responded:

 

A majority of the respondents are seeking their first public office:

I am seeking election to the same office 
 
 27% 
 I am seeking election to a different office 
 
 3% 
 I am seeking election to an office for the 1st time.
 
 69% 
 I have withdrawn from the race and am no longer seeking office. 
 
 1% 

 

The Questions:

Do you support the current Florida law that allows a motorcyclist 21 years of age or older to the freedom of choice on the wearing of helmets if they can show proof of $10,000 medical insurance?

 

 Yes 

 

 94% 

 No 

 

 6% 

 

Currently, a motorist can be convicted of injuring or killing a motorcyclist, bicyclist, pedestrian, etc. and only receive a $86 fine for a “failure to yield” traffic citation. Would you support a Bill that would give a Judge additional stiffer penalty options when sentencing the guilty party?

 

 Yes 

 

 94% 

 No 

 

 6%

 

Do you support blood testing on all parties involved in an accident resulting in serious injury and/or a fatality ?

 

 Yes 

 

 82% 

 No 

 

 18% 

NOTE: Many candidates expressed comments regarding this question, please make sure to download the full survey results to see how specific candidates felt about this issue.

 

In 2007, 2008, and 2009, motorcycle deaths in Florida have been reduced 0.77%, 2.9%, and 25.1%. (respectively).  2008 and 2009 also saw an increase in “Motorcycle Safety Awareness” education for the public due to the Florida Legislature allocating funds to ABATE of Florida, Inc. for the sole purpose of motorcycle safety awareness.

Would you support continuing to set aside funds so that ABATE of Florida, Inc. may continue to increase motorcycle safety awareness to the public?

 
 Yes 
 
 97% 
 No 
 
 3% 

 

Are you familiar with ABATE of Florida, Inc.?

 
 Yes 
 
 84% 
 No 
 
 16% 

 

 

The full survey results, including which candidate elected to participate, as well as their individual answers, are available by clicking HERE Reviewing these results will better inform you regarding how YOUR candidates may feel about our rights & safety.

(the download is in MS Excel format)