2006 General Election Special Report

Published October 26, 2006

About this report

This special report contains interviews Florida Baptist Witness conducted with the Democrat and Republican candidates for governor and the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate.

The gubernatorial candidate interviews were conducted by Executive Editor James A. Smith Sr. The interview with Jim Davis was conducted Oct. 12 via telephone, while the interview with Charlie Crist was conducted Aug. 7 in person at the Miami International Airport. The Crist interview was first published Aug. 24 as part of the Witness special report on the primary election. Crist was offered the opportunity of a new interview and to update his answers to the first interview. He declined both opportunities.

The Katherine Harris interview was conducted in writing, after repeated efforts to establish a live interview with Managing Editor Joni Hannigan were unsuccessful. The same offer was made to Bill Nelson, the Democrat candidate for U.S. Senate, after repeated efforts to set up an interview with Nelson were unsuccessful. Nelson’s campaign never responded to the offer.

Many other candidates are vying for statewide and local offices in the Nov. 7 general election. For more information, interested persons may contact their county supervisor of elections or the Florida Secretary of State (http://election.dos.state.fl.us). Pro-family organizations providing voter information include Christian Coalition of Florida (www.ccfla.org) and Florida Family Policy Council (www.floridafamilyaction.org).

About this report

This special report contains interviews Florida Baptist Witness conducted with the major candidates running for the Democrat and Republican nominations for governor and the candidates running for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in their respective Sept. 5 primaries.

Of the gubernatorial candidates, only U.S. Rep. Jim Davis, a Democrat, did not consent to an interview, in spite of numerous contacts with his campaign, including no less than five e-mails, five telephone messages, and three telephone conversations with the campaign’s press secretary over a period of more than three weeks. Only one of the Republican candidates for U.S. Senate, Peter Monroe, failed to accept an interview invitation.

The gubernatorial candidate interviews were conducted by Executive Editor James A. Smith Sr., while the senate candidate interviews were conducted by Managing Editor Joni B. Hannigan. With minor variations depending on how the candidates responded, each group of candidates – gubernatorial and senatorial – was asked the same questions. The interviews published in this special report are the actual questions and answers, with only minor editing for extraneous comments and repetition in the responses.

Many other candidates are vying for federal, statewide and local offices in the Sept. 5 primary election. For more information, interested persons may contact their county supervisor of election or the Florida Secretary of State (http://election.dos.state.fl.us). Pro-family organizations providing voter information include Christian Coalition of Florida (www.ccfla.org) and Florida Family Policy Council (www.floridafamilyaction.org).