Worried about extremists in office? Bring back runoffs in Florida’s primaries | Guest Opinion

The 2022 midterm elections climaxed on Tuesday in a Georgia runoff for the U.S. Senate. Incumbent Democrat Raphael Warnock defeated the Trump-backed Republican, Herschel Walker, giving Democrats a 51-49 edge in the Senate.

Warnock had held a slim lead in the Nov. 8 general election, but Georgia law requires a runoff of the top two finishers, even in general elections, unless the leader in a multi-candidate field amasses at least 50% of votes cast.

Florida once required runoffs in party primaries, but the practice was discontinued after the 1998 elections. However, a look back at Florida’s election history suggests that reinstating runoffs — in party primaries, if not general elections — would be a good idea.

Consider three examples of how this state’s history during the second half of the 20^th century might be quite different were it not for runoffs. Three of the governors whom many historians rank among the best won in a runoff after trailing in the first primary.

In 1954, a special election was held to fill the remaining two years of the term of Gov. Dan McCarty, who died nine months after taking office. LeRoy Collins challenged the segregationist acting governor, Charley Johns. Johns led the three-candidate field in the first primary, but because he lacked 50% of the vote, a runoff was held. Collins won.

Then there was Reubin Askew, a state senator from Pensacola who was little known outside of the Panhandle. In the 1970 Democratic primary, Askew finished second behind Attorney General Earl Faircloth. Because Faircloth didn’t get 50% of the vote, there was a runoff. Askew won.

Askew, a reformer, was just what Florida needed at that time. In the 1960s, the state Cabinet, the Florida Supreme Court and Public Service Commission had all been tainted by scandals. The incorruptible Askew did a lot to clean up the mess.

Finally, as a worthy successor to Askew, there was Miami’s Bob Graham. In the seven-candidate field in the 1978 Democratic primary, Graham trailed another Miamian, Attorney General Bob Shevin, but — helped by having Panhandle Sen. Wayne Mixson as his running mate — won in the runoff.

Graham was a popular governor who got a lot done in the early 1980s when the state as a whole and Miami in particular were beset by a drug-fueled crime wave and an influx of refugees from Cuba and Haiti. He also compiled an impressive record on the environment and education.

If Florida still had runoffs in its party primaries, it is not a stretch to speculate that Bob Graham’s daughter, Gwen, might now be beginning her second term as Florida’s first female governor.

In the Democrats’ gubernatorial primary in 2018, in a seven-candidate field that included Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine and Palm Beach real estate magnate Jeff Greene, Gwen Graham finished second to Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, who became the nominee despite having won only 34% of the vote.

Had there been a runoff, Graham arguably would have defeated Gillum. Then, in the general election, as a relatively moderate Democrat who had widespread name recognition thanks to her dad, she might well have defeated the Trump-backed Republican, a little-known congressman named Ron DeSantis. In that case, DeSantis might now be back to practicing law somewhere instead of contemplating a run for the White House.

By requiring that a party’s nominee be supported by at least 50% of the party’s voters, runoffs arguably help a party build a consensus behind a nominee and diminish the risk that an extremist in a multi-candidate field would represent the party in the general election.

Runoffs also work against the use of “ghost candidates,” whose presence on the ballot is meant to sow confusion and siphon votes away from a candidate whom shadowy special interests have targeted for defeat. Often this is achieved by entering a candidate with a similar name. In a runoff, the ghost would be gone.

Granted, reinstating runoffs in Florida’s party primaries will face administrative challenges. To gauge those, I interviewed Leon County Elections Supervisor Mark Earley, who’s the current president of Florida Supervisors of Elections.

Earley explained that to make sure military personnel and other U.S. citizens living abroad are not disfranchised, federal law requires sufficient separation — 45 days or more — between the various phases of an election cycle, from the candidates’ qualifying to the party primary and then to the general election.

The expansion of early voting and the greater use of mail-in ballots has further complicated the staging of the elections in an era when some voters seemingly perceive the slightest bit of inconvenience as blatant “voter suppression.”

Yet to deem the logistics of staging elections more important than getting a good result is letting the tail wag the dog. To me, as a seasoned (old) observer of Florida politics, it’s evident that at several key turning points in Florida’s history, primary election runoffs — and/or the lack thereof — have made a significant difference in our state’s overall direction. I believe it’s time to bring them back.

Robert F. Sanchez, of Tallahassee, is a former member of the Miami Herald Editorial Board. He writes for the Herald’s conservative opinion newsletter, Right to the Point. It’s weekly, and it’s free. To subscribe, go to miamiherald.com/righttothepoint.