The first weekend of early voting being available in every Florida county pushed the number of votes cast for the Nov. 3 election towards 2.8 million, more than 20 percent of the turnout in the prior midterm election in 2022.

While most counties started offering the in-person option at the start of last week, it is mandatory for all 67 counties from Saturday until Oct. 31.

As of Monday morning, 1.38 million Floridians used early voting, including just over 600,000 registered Republicans, 505,000 registered Democrats and 242,000 without a party designation. Another 34,000 people registered with a third party also voted in person at an early voting location.

Meanwhile, 1.4 million mail-in ballots have been cast, with the party designations for these votes flipped.

Registered Democrats have returned 604,000 vote-by-mail ballots to just over 500,000 by Republicans. Another 265,000 Floridians without a party designation and 34,000 third party voters have voted by mail.

Overall, Republicans hold a 1.5 million advantage over Democrats among 13.7 million registered voters.

The prior midterm election in 2022 drew 7.8 million voters, 53.8 percent of those registered.

Insured losses in Florida from Hurricane Isaias so far approach $582 million as claims start to roll in from the Oct. 9 storm, according to the Office of Insurance Regulation.

As of Tuesday, early 55,000 claims linked to the storm have been filed across the state, with the majority from the western Panhandle.  More than 26,000 claims have been filed in Santa Rosa County, nearly 17,000 in Escambia County, about 5,200 in Okaloosa County, more than 2,000 in Walton County and almost 2,000 in Bay County.

About 47,000 claims are tied to residential property, but they also cover auto and commercial properties, along with business interruptions and other business lines.

Risk analytics from Moody’s RMS estimated the losses across multiple states will be between $2.5 billion to $4.5 billion from the Category 2 storm that made landfall near Destin. Boston-based Karen Clark & Company, a prominent risk-management and catastrophe modeling software firm, estimated privately insured losses nationally at $3 billion.

“The most severe impacts were concentrated in the coastal cities and towns of the Florida Panhandle, like Destin, Pensacola Beach, and Navarre,” the flash estimate from Karen Clark & Company stated Oct. 15. “Major damage has also been observed in towns around Pensacola Bay, such as Milton and Pace.”

Moody’s called the damages “manageable.”

“Thankfully, the storm encountered strong wind shear as it approached landfall, which disrupted its structure and weakened the wind field considerably,” Jeff Waters, Director of North Atlantic hurricane models for Moody’s, stated.

Karen Clark & Company didn’t include National Flood Insurance Program claims, which Moody’s RMS estimated at $250 million.

Moody’s RMS put most of the losses on wind damage.

Last Friday, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that the Florida Division of Emergency Management submitted a request to President Donald Trump for a major disaster declaration following Isaias.

The request seeks roughly $237 million in federal resources to support affected communities across northwest Florida, including public assistance for 15 counties and individual assistance for eligible residents in eight designated counties.

Six deaths in Florida have been linked to the storm.

Of the claims filed, just over 3,500 have been closed with some payment and nearly 8,500 have already been closed without any payment. Of the claims that remain open, 1,454 had already resulted in some level of payment.

By comparison, losses in Florida attributed to Hurricane Milton in October 2024 were $5.6 billion, with 385,146 claims filed. The 155,182 claims submitted after Hurricane Helene came ashore in the Big Bend Region in last September 2024 resulted in $2.58 billion in losses.

Milton made landfall near Siesta Key in Sarasota County and Helene landed west-southwest of Perry in Taylor County.

Hurricane Michael, which made landfall on the Panhandle at Mexico Beach as a Category 5 storm with 160 mph sustained winds on Oct. 10, 2018, resulted in $9.1 billion in losses in Florida. Nearly 159,000 claims were filed after Michael, of which almost 130,000 resulted in some payment.

First-time jobless claims in Florida dropped last week after two weeks of growth.

The U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday estimated 4,844 initial unemployment applications were filed last week, down from a revised count of 6,014 the prior week.

The decrease follows the state Department of Commerce reporting Florida’s jobless rate for September at 4.4 percent, down 0.1 percentage point from August. The rate, representing 489,000 jobless Floridians from a workforce of 11.1 million, is within the range economists consider full employment. 

The state figures came as the National Federation of Independent Business revealed small business owners have become “more cautious” about planning for the future, with labor quality or availability being the top issue for the third consecutive month.

Nationally, an estimated 194,000 claims were filed last week, down from a revised count of 200,000 for the week ending Oct. 10.

Senate President Ben Albritton voted to put Amendment 3, the major property tax cut, before the voters, but when he casts his ballot he’ll be voting against the measure.

The Wauchula Republican, who represents a rural district stretching from southern Polk County down into Lee County, says the amendment would seriously impair the ability of small towns and counties to provide essential services.

“As a native of Florida’s heartland, our rural communities are near and dear to my heart. It’s who I am,” Albritton said in a released statement. “Amendment 3 would eliminate up to 30 percent of resources for Florida’s rural counties, gutting essential support for law enforcement, emergency response services and critical infrastructure.”

The statement was shared on social media by the Florida Sheriff’s Association, which is opposed to Amendment 3, fearing it would slash resources available for counties’ law enforcement budgets.

Albritton voted for the measure (HB 1F) in a special session in June, but throughout the public debate over the issue he warned small, rural communities should be protected from any large slash in revenues.

Albritton is the latest Senate leader to come out against the proposal. Sen. Kathleen Passidomo, a Naples Republican and Albritton’s predecessor as Senate President, also said she’s against Amendment 3, and for similar reasons.

The push to cut property taxes came from Gov. Ron DeSantis, who championed the issue for several months. His office developed the structure of the proposal that will appear before voters on the Nov. 3 ballot.

The measure increases the homestead property tax exemption from the current $50,000 to $150,000 in 2027, and then to $250,000 in 2028. The Legislature, though, exempted the portion of the property tax bill that goes to K-12 schools from the increased exemption, which irked DeSantis. Another provision of the measure lowers the annual cap on assessment increases for non-homestead properties from 10 percent to 5 percent.

DeSantis initially said he wouldn’t campaign heavily for it but later said he would. On Wednesday he held a discussion with Miami-Dade County officials to back Amendment 3, and downplayed the effects it would have on rural areas if it passes. The state government could give grants to cities and counties for needed services, he argued. He said Albritton’s opposition shows support for the move came from the “grassroots” not “political elites.”

“This is bottom up, it’s is not top down,” DeSantis told reporters. “Left to their own devices, the politicians would’ve never put this on the ballot.”

In pushing for the measure, DeSantis pointed to the sharp increase in property tax values that has led to a surge in revenues for local governments in recent years, from $33 billion to $55.2 billion from 2019 to 2024. That squeeze came at the same time inflation also hit families hard on groceries, property insurance and utility costs.

But a coalition of local governments officials and law enforcement officials are opposed to Amendment 3, saying the cuts will be too drastic for many cities and counties to absorb without cutting into essential services.

The amendment needs 60 percent support from voters to become law. 

The legal position of the Hope Florida grand jury report, already widely reported but also expunged by an appellate court, grew murkier Tuesday amid a multi-pronged effort to prohibit any publication of the document.

A group of people named in the grand jury report, first leaked in August, petitioned the 1^st District Court of Appeal on Friday to “prohibit illegal publication” of the report, but the request was denied. The substance of the petition and the court order aren’t publicly available, but a court docket of the case shows the petition was denied.

In a separate case filed by the Republican Party of Florida, a Highlands County judge on Tuesday rejected its request to immediately stop television stations from airing political ads from the Florida Democratic Party highlighting the report. RPOF had filed the lawsuit late Friday evening, as first reported by the Florida Trident. Judge Peter Estrada denied the request to immediately halt the ads, but ordered a hearing to be held over the matter.

The 1^st DCA has already ordered Leon County State Attorney Jack Campbell, who oversaw the grand jury proceedings, to justify his actions surrounding the handling of the report. Now, it’s ordering those named in the report to show why the entire court proceedings shouldn’t be made public.

In two separate cases before the 1^st DCA, the court on Monday and Tuesday ordered those named in the report to, within five days, “show cause why the briefs, record on appeal, notices, motions, and other filings of the parties should not be given unrestricted status on the docket and made available for public viewing.”

The report was finalized in January. It found that while the diversion of $10 million from a $67 million Medicaid settlement in 2024 that ended up in a political committee headed by James Uthmeier, then-Gov. Ron DeSantis’ chief of staff, meant the money was “misappropriated,” no one could be indicted in the case.

Uthmeier was later appointed by DeSantis as attorney general in January 2025, and is in the middle of an election campaign against Democrat Jose Javier Rodriguez, a former state senator who was named as a defendant in RPOF’s lawsuit.

The money was first given to the Hope Florida Foundation as part of the settlement with Centene to resolve overpayments. That group then gave the money to two nonprofits, which then gave the money to Uthmeier’s political committee, which opposed two measures on the 2024 ballot. The proposals would have legalized recreational marijuana and installed a right to an abortion in the state constitution, but failed to pass.

The lack of an indictment means under state law the report can be sealed and blocked from public view. Those named in the report petitioned a trial court to prevent its publication, and the trial court partially agreed, saying part of the report could be made public with some redactions.

Those named in the report appealed to the 1^st DCA, which originally ruled on Aug. 25 the grand jury presentment should be expunged, but that ruling was also kept hidden from public view. Within 24 hours, the unredacted report was publicized by CBS News Miami.

In its expungement order, the 1^st DCA found the grand jury was incorrect on the law, that the $10 million was never “state money” since it was part of a settlement that was completed before any legal action was started, therefore the money wasn’t “misappropriated.”

The leak led to an inquest from the 1^st DCA. Initially, Campbell pointed to the 1^st DCA’s administration, but the court has stated it never received the unredacted grand jury report until Sept. 9.

On Oct. 9, the court gave Campbell five days to show why a special master shouldn’t be appointed to investigate the leak of the report, why he shouldn’t be sanctioned for implying the clerks of the trial court or the 1^st DCA had inadvertently leaked the report, and why he shouldn’t be referred to the Florida Bar for disciplinary action. Campbell responded on Oct. 13 with a more than 200-page filing, but that has been sealed by the court.

On Friday, the court ordered Campbell to detail which parts of his response should be redacted. And on Monday and Tuesday came the two orders to all parties involved to justify why all the court filings shouldn’t be made public.

Florida added more than 225,000 voters since the August primary, with increases nearly even among registered Republicans and Democrats in that time, according to numbers posted by the Division of Elections.

The division reported 13.7 million Floridians are registered to vote in the Nov. 3 contest.

Republicans maintained the sizeable advantage they’ve been growing since 2021 in overall registered voters, with nearly 5.69 million registered Republicans compared to almost 4.15 million Democrats.

Between the July 20 deadline to register for the August primary and the Oct. 5 deadline for the November General Election, the GOP added 86,694 registered voters compared to 85,134 registering as Democrats.

Republican Party of Florida Chairman Evan Power said Monday that after the “historic” voter registration growth the past two years “we have been focused on turnout for elections recently.”

“We will be back to growing our lead after the election,” Power replied in a text.

Prior to the release of the book closing numbers, the Florida Democratic Party was crowing about its September numbers, adding about 500 more registered voters than the GOP, which represented the first time since mid-2021 that Democrats have posted a larger monthly net gain than Republicans.

“Floridians are tired of paying more for groceries, gas, housing, and insurance while Republicans in Tallahassee and Washington make life harder for working families,” Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Nikki Fried said in a released statement. “We’ve spent years rebuilding this party from the ground up. Our organizers are in communities year-round, our volunteers are knocking doors across this state, and Democrats are having real conversations with Floridians about what’s at stake.”

The overall number of voters eligible to vote in the November contest is about 250,000 fewer than in the 2024 election, due in part to list maintenance required of county supervisors of election.

“In Florida, voters are removed for death, legal ineligibility, or because they move out of the jurisdiction,” according to a statement from the division. “It is important to note that no voter is removed from the rolls without notice and due process.”

Voters are listed as “inactive” when they don’t respond within 30 days to an address confirmation mail or if the mailing is returned as undeliverable. Voters are removed if they don’t participate in two consecutive general elections.

As of Sept. 30, nearly 199,000 voters this year have been removed, following the 251,000 who were removed in 2025.

Voting is already underway through vote-by-mail ballots. In-person early voting began in 34 counties Monday. All 67 counties are required to provide the option from Saturday through Oct. 31.

Individuals registered without a political party grew by just over 32,000 to 3.35 million between the primary and general election book closing dates.

Among the 15 recognized minor or third parties, the Independent Party of Florida added around 10,000 voters since the July closing date to bring its ranks to 331,000.

Conservative Party of Florida added 100 voters in the same time and is just over 41,000 for the general election.

The America First Party of Florida added nearly 7,000 voters between the election deadlines to bring its ranks to just over 32,000.

With just under 35,000 registered voters, the Libertarian Party of Florida was up about 200 voters since the primary.

The Party for Socialism & Liberation was up nearly 200 voters to 2,435.

With the state set to update its unemployment numbers on Friday, a federal estimate of first-time jobless claims from Floridians was up last week compared to prior weeks.

The U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday estimated 5,793 initial unemployment applications were filed in Florida last week, up from a revised count of 5,312 the week ending Oct. 3. The total for last week is also the most for a single week in the state since 5,797 were filed the week ending Aug. 8.

Nationally, the department estimated 199,000 claims were filed last week, up 1,000 from the revised count for the prior week.

The national unemployment rate was 4.2 percent for September.

As of August, Florida’s unemployment rate was 4.5 percent, with 502,000 unemployed from a workforce of 11.1 million.

Florida’s law banning minors under 14 from getting their own social media accounts is likely constitutional, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday, throwing out a lower court’s preliminary injunction against the law.

The 11^th Circuit Court of Appeals had previously stayed the lower court’s ruling blocking the law, pending the appeal by the state of Florida. In its ruling, the appellate court held the law to be within constitutional bounds.

“Yes, (the law) implicates the First Amendment and thus triggers constitutional scrutiny,” the opinion of the unanimous three-judge panel states. “But it likely does so in a content-neutral manner, and it likely survives intermediate scrutiny because it doesn’t burden substantially more speech than necessary to advance the important interest in protecting minors from social-media addiction.”

In response, Paul Taske, director of the litigation center for NetChoice, a trade group of technology and social media companies that challenged the law, said the group is considering their next steps. The group also warned social media sites could be forced to verify the ages and the parental status of all users as a result of the ruling.

“We are disappointed in the Eleventh Circuit’s ruling, which allows Florida to enforce its law imposing digital ID requirements as a condition for accessing lawful speech,” Taske said in a released statement. “We are currently evaluating all of our options as we continue the fight to ensure Floridians’ rights to free expression online are protected, and parents remain in the driver’s seat when it comes to making decisions for their families.”

The law (HB 3) was passed by the Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2024. Then-House Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast, championed the measure, which garnered large bipartisan support in the final votes – 30-5 in the Senate and 109-4 in the House.

In addition to banning minors under 14 from creating their own personal social media accounts, it requires 15- and 16-year-olds to get parental permission to get their own accounts.

Moreover, the law targets social media platforms with “addictive features.” That means only platforms with “unlimited scrolling” and the use of algorithms to keep content likely to attract users’ attention on their screens.

Those parameters were important, the court noted, in helping the law stay within the bounds of the Constitution without broadly violating First Amendment rights.

The law “doesn’t ‘burden substantially more speech than necessary’ because it calibrates its restrictions by age, regulates minors’ creation of social-media accounts, not necessarily their access to the platforms themselves, covers only those platforms that have been determined to induce heavy use by children, and applies only to platforms that use both algorithms and one of several addictive features,” the ruling states.

More than a half million ballots in Florida have been cast for the November 3 General Election.

The Division of Elections Tuesday morning reported just over 226,000 vote-by-mail ballots submitted by registered Democrats and nearly 190,000 from registered Republicans.

Florida voters registered without any political affiliation accounted for nearly 98,000 returned ballots as of Tuesday morning, with more than 13,000 cast by individuals registered to what are considered minor parties.

Another 1.77 million requested vote-by-mail ballots have also been sent out from county supervisors of elections. Of that total, nearly 760,000 were sent to Democrats and 600,000 to registered Republicans.

Republicans typically make up the difference with in-person early voting, which is mandated from Oct. 24 to Oct. 31. Some counties will open early voting cites prior to and after those dates.

In prior midterm elections, 7.8 million Floridians voted in 2022 and 8.3 million in 2018.

Citrus growers continue to express optimism for future harvests even as the first forecast for this season indicates production will be down nearly 19 percent from the prior season’s crop.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Friday projected orange production in Florida to be off 23 percent from the prior season, which ended in July. The grapefruit harvest is expected to be down 4 percent and the outlook for specialty crops of tangerines and tangelos showed a 2 percent decrease.

The production of lemons, a relatively new category for the state, is forecast to be up 6 percent from the 2025-2026 harvest.

Florida Citrus Mutual Executive Vice President Matt Joyner pointed to the lingering effect of a pair of winter freezes at the start of this year as “a speed bump on our road to recovery.”

“But there are many signs that point to strong performance in the years ahead,” Joyner added. “Growers are reporting healthier trees and improved fruit quality, and we’re seeing higher production per acre. As newly planted acreage matures, we’re hopeful the data will reflect the optimism we feel in the groves this season.”

The industry is counting on continued state and further federal assistance.

The state budget for the current fiscal year, which began July 1, included $196 million for the industry. Of that, $160 million is for new plantings and field trials of treatments against the ravages of a deadly bacterial disease called huanglongbing, better known as citrus greening disease.

For a quarter century, citrus greening has decimated the industry, which also faces pressures from hurricanes, development, and changing drinking habits.

The state budget also included $20 million to purchase, refurbish, and repair nursery and packinghouse equipment.

The USDA’s annual Commercial Citrus Inventory report released in August showed citrus growers were using 21 percent fewer acres than a year earlier.

There are 165,000 acres in use across 23 counties for the current season, a 73 percent reduction from two decades ago.

Joyner said the industry also continues to advocate for passage of the Florida Freeze Disaster Assistance Act (H.R. 9094), which members of the state Congressional delegation introduced after the freezes. 

The bill seeks $3.5 billion in emergency USDA funding that would be administered by the state through block grants to Florida’s farmers, ranchers and growers. The bill hasn’t gotten through the first stage of the legislative process with less than three months remaining for the 119th U.S. Congress.

The forecast released Friday anticipated orange growers to produce enough of the state’s signature crop to fill 10 million industry-standard 90-pound boxes, of which 7 million boxes will be Valencia oranges.

Grapefruit is forecast at 1.3 million boxes: 1.2 million of the red variety and 100,000 white grapefruit.

Tangerines and tangelos are at 450,000 boxes.

Last season, growers produced 12.9 million boxes of oranges, 1.35 million boxes of grapefruit and 460,000 boxes of tangerines and tangelos.

Twenty years earlier, with growers rebounding from several severe hurricanes, the harvest produced 147.9 million boxes of oranges, 19.3 million boxes of grapefruit and 7.6 million boxes of specialty fruits.

Lemons, which the USDA has tracked in Florida only the past two seasons, are projected at 950,000 boxes, up from 900,000 last season and 670,000 in the 2024-2025 growing season.

The forecast is the first of four planned for the season instead of nine as in prior years, part of changes made after the 43-day government shutdown that began in October 2024.

Hurricane Isaias made tore through Florida’s western Gulf Coast on Friday evening, bringing storm surge, heavy winds and plenty of rain. Now the region is assessing the damage and starting the recovery process.

The storm made landfall in Okaloosa County as a Category 2 hurricane with sustained winds of 120 mph. State and local officials said they’re working on the first order of clean up – clearing roads and restoring power.

“Right now I think clearing those trees, clearing the debris – that mission continues,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said Saturday afternoon during a briefing in Fort Walton Beach. “Our utilities are working hard to get everyone reconnected and back on the grid and I know that will be a breath of fresh air for everyone when that happens.”

Isaias knocked power out to nearly 450,000 homes and businesses as of 7 a.m., and there were 439,162 still without electricity as of 1 p.m. Saturday. That includes 132,020 in Escambia County (about 76 percent of the county), 86,020 in Santa Rosa County (about 88 percent of the county), 66,840 in Okaloosa County (about 54 percent of the county) and 43,910 in Bay County (about 32 percent of the county).

Jared Perdue, the Secretary of Transportation and the executive director of the Division of Emergency Management, said recovery teams were able to clear Interstate-10 and U.S. Route 98 in the area by Saturday morning. But crews were still working to clear other arterial roads in the region that run north to south.

There were 16,000 utility linemen working to restore power, but even as those recovery efforts are underway, Perdue warned of lingering dangers from Isaias, such as rising rivers that could flood waterways.

“There can still be flooding from rising rivers,” Perdue said, citing the Shoal River in Okaloosa County in particular. “Please do not drive through it … it can wash away your car it can wash away a human; it can be very dangerous very quickly.”

DeSantis previously had said there weren’t any confirmed deaths related to the storm but there was one report of a person killed that hasn’t been officially confirmed. Two urban search and rescue teams remained in the area Saturday.

After the initial recovery will come the longer rebuilding process, which for many residents will likely entail dealing with insurance claims. Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia warned homeowners not to sign contracts with tree removal specialists or other contractors or adjusters until they’ve been vetted. Scammers are looking to take advantage of storm victims, he said.

“They hit 100 houses and then they take off to another state,” Ingoglia said.

He added that his office will set up insurance hubs in the affected region so homeowners can file claims.

But first comes the initial recovery phase of getting the roads cleared and power restored.

“It’s going to be some long days but we’re going to get through this and we’re going to get recovered,” said Perdue.

 Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday called a state appellate court’s decision to expunge the Hope Florida grand jury report “death by firing squad” and demanded those responsible for leak of the report be held accountable.

DeSantis praised the 19-page ruling by the 1st District Court of Appeal, which asserted a $10 million settlement arrangement from Medicaid provider Centene to the Hope Florida Foundation was legal. The ruling was also critical of the leak of the grand jury report to the press.

“It was more of a political exercise. I think the intent was always to leak something,” he said, blaming members of the Legislature for creating the “phony narrative.”

“The leaking of the grand jury report was a crime that did irreparable harm to innocent people,” DeSantis posted on X. “This was adult supervision by the Court — and yet another example of politically-contrived narratives falling apart under proper scrutiny.”

The governor would not answer whether he would suspend State Attorney Jack Campbell, who oversaw the grand jury proceedings in Tallahassee, but did say he wanted to find out who was responsible for the leak and have charges brought against them.

He said an investigation was ongoing.

The grand jury report found the money was misappropriated because state law bars executive agencies from entering into settlements that pay out third parties. The 2024 settlement agreement, which resolved alleged overpayments by Centene in multiple states, sent $57 million to state coffers and $10 million to the Hope Florida Foundation.

The Hope Florida Foundation is a nonprofit, part of an initiative started by First Lady Casey DeSantis to connect those on welfare with private sector charities. The foundation funneled the money to two other nonprofits, which in turn gave the money to a political committee headed by James Uthmeier, who at the time was DeSantis’ chief of staff.

The committee opposed measures on the 2024 ballot to legalize recreational marijuana and install a right to an abortion in the state constitution. DeSantis vehemently opposed both measures, and each fell short of the 60 percent needed to pass. DeSantis later appointed Uthmeier as attorney general.

But the appellate ruling states that because no “civil action” had been filed in court, the law doesn’t apply to the settlement. And because the $10 million was paid directly to Hope Florida and not the state, the money wasn’t “diverted” as the grand jury report indicated.

The ruling also criticized Campbell for the leak of the grand jury report to the press. Under state law, grand jury reports that don’t lead to indictments are supposed to be sealed until those named in the report are given a copy and the opportunity to suppress and expunge the record.

The ruling was written by Judge Lance Neff, who was appointed to the court by DeSantis in March, two months after the grand jury report was finalized.

Supporters of the governor and Uthmeier declared “victory” over the “hoax” after the ruling was released Wednesday afternoon.

But Democrats said the findings of the appeals court didn’t deny that the settlement money was used for political purposes.

“The court opinion doesn’t change the fact that millions of taxpayer dollars wound up in coffers controlled by Uthmeier and, ultimately, the Republican Party of Florida,” said House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell, D-Tampa. “The Governor still believes the only crime committed was that the report was released and the people found out what they were up to. Floridians deserve better.”

Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried said questions remain about the $10 million to Hope Florida.

“This is what unchecked power looks like after decades of one-party rule in Tallahassee: the people in charge protect their own, bury the evidence and call it vindication,” she said in a statement. “Voters will have the final say this November.”