Headline Surfer photo illustration / It's Biden or Trump followed by endorsements starting Tuesday in 67 other races in Volusia, Flagler and Seminole counties.
By HENRY FREDERICK / Headline Surfer
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Headline Surfer will unveil its endorsement for President of the United States in the 2020 Elections at high noon Monday, Labor Day.
So who will it be? Democrat challenger Joe Biden or four more years for incumbent Republican Donald Trump? Ultimately the American voters will make that decision with final votes cast in the Nov. 3 General Election.
With mail-in voting expected to be the optimal choice for many voters across the country against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic and with uncertainty over the US Postal Service getting the ballots to the polling places, who likely will vote as soon as possible to ensure their votes are in the hands of elections officials on or before Election Day, on Nov. 3,
Recognizing there will be voting right up to and including Election Day when all voter ballots must be in hand to be counted, Headline Surfer is making the presidential endorsement its top priority among the 68 contested races collectively in its core coverage - the Interstate 4 corridor from Daytona Beach to Orlando, inclusive of Volusia, Seminole and Orange counties.
In fact, Headline Surfer is the only daily news outlet to make endorsements in these three counties. The only other news outlet is the Orlando Sentinel metro newspaper, which has issued its endorsements in Seminole and Orange counties, but not Volusia County. The other major news outlet is the Daytona Beach News-Journal, no longer a metro that covers Volusia and Flagler counties, but does not issue election endorsements.
The Orlando Sentinel on Monday endorsed Joe Biden for president with a blistering rebuke of Trump. In fact, The Sentinel actually issued an initial endorsement in late 2019 for Anyone, but Trump.
As for Headline Surfer''s commitment to endorsements in every race on ballots in the three-counties in the I-4 corridor.
There are a number of closely contested races in Volusia - three non-partisan races on the County Council, three hotly contested partisan Statehouse races, a non-partisan seat representing Daytona-Port Orange on the School Board, and several municipal races, the most significant for Ormond Beech mayor.
Seminole County has quite a tight races: Sheriff, Tax Collector, the district 5 seat on the Seminole County Commission, and Supervisor of Elections, all of which are partisan races.
In Orange County, there are several statehouse races, Orange-Osceola State Attorney and several school board seats.
The Headline Surfer endortsement will set the tone for voters in the other races with at least four endorsements rolling out on Tuesday, after Monday's presidential endorsement has hit the internet at high noon. It is a comprehensive presentation with a series of videos, infographics, hyperlinks and several siebar stories. It is the most-involved endorsement Headline Surfer has undertaken.
On Tuesday, Headline Surfer plans to roll out at least four endorsements each day with multiple endorsements each day thereafter for smaller municipal contests.
Four years ago, Headline Surfer didn't publish its endorsement in the presidential election until the last week of October.
Our 2016 Endorsement:
Posted: 2016-10-25 - 10:57:17
Key races in Volusia County:
• Volusia County Chair
* Dist 2 County Council
• District 4 County Council
State Rep. 27
State Rep 28
Key races in Seminole County:
Key races in Orange County:
This is the daily schedule of published endorsements as follows, with the recognition that the schedule could change depending on breaking news and other major developments in our news coverage with very limited resources.
Monday, Sept 7: US President: Joe Biden/Kamala Harris, Democrat vs Donald Trump/Mike Pence, Republican (incumbent)
Tuesday, Sept 8: US Congress District 6: Clint Curtis, Democrat vs. Michael Waltz, Republican (inc)
Tuesday, Sept 8: US Congress District 7: Stephanie Murphy, Democrat (inc) vs. Leo Valentin, Republican
Tuesday, Sept 8: US Congress District 8: Jim Kennedy, Democrat vs. Bill Posey, Republican (inc)
Tuesday, Sept 8: US Congress District 9: Darren Soto, Democrat (inc) vs. William P. “Bill” Olson, Republican, (inc)
Wednesday, Sept 9: US Congress District 10: Val Demings, Democrat (Inc) vs. Vennie Francois, Democrat vs. Sufiyah Yasmine, write-in
Wednesday, Sept 9: State Senator, District 7: Richard Dembinsky, write-in vs. Heather Hunter, Democrat vs. Travis Hutson, Republican, (inc)
Wednesday, Sept 9: State Senator, District 9: Patricia Sigman, Democrat vs. Richard Brodeur, Republican
Wednesday, Sept 9: State Representative, District 24: Adam Morley, Democrat vs. Paul Renner, Republican (inc)
Thursday, Sept 10: State Representative, District 25: Joseph “Joe” Hannoush, LPF vs. Sarah Sutter, Democrat vs. Tom GLeek, Republican (inc)
Thursday, Sept 10: State Representative, District 26: Patrick Henry, Democrat vs. Elizabeth Fetterhoff, Republican, Incumbent
Thursday, Sept 10: State Representative, District 27: Delores Guzman, Democrat vs. Webster Barnaby, Republican
Thursday, Sept 10: State Representative, District XX: , Democrat vs. Tom Leek, Republican incumbent.
Friday, Sept 11: State Representative, District 28: Pasha Baker, Democrat vs. Micael A. Ricio, NPA vs. David Smith, Republican (inc)
Friday, Sept 11: State Representative, District 29: Tracey Kagan, Democrat vs. Juan Rodriguez, NPA vs. Scott Plakon, Republican (inc)
Friday, Sept 11: State Representative, District 30: Joyce Goff-Marcil, Democrat (inc) vs. Bob Cortes, Republican
Friday, Sept 11, Judge runoff: Joan Anthony vs. Dan Hilbert
Saturday, Sept 12: State Attorney (7th Circuit): Don Dempsey, NPA vs. RJ Larizza, Republican (inc)
Saturday, Sept 12: State Attorney, 8th Circuit: Monique Worrell, Democrat vs. Jose Torroella, NPA
Sunday, Sept 13: Volusia County Council, District 2: Danny Fuqua vs. Billie Wheeler (inc)
Sunday, Sept 13: Volusia County Council District 4: Barbara Bonarrigo vs. Heather Post (inc)
Sunday, Sept 13: Volusia County Council Chair: Jeff Brower vs. Deb Denys
Sunday, Sept 13: Volusia County School Board District 2: Anita Burnette vs. Ida Wright , (inc)
Monday, Sept 14: Seminole County Clerk of the Court and Comptroller: Kristina Renteria, Democrat vs. Grant Malloy, Republican (inc)
Monday, Sept 14: Seminole County Sheriff: Paul Spike Hopkins, Democrat vs. Dennis Lemma, Republican (inc)
Monday, Sept 14: Seminole County Property Appraiser: Jeff Triplett, NPA vs. David Johnson, Republican (inc)
Monday, Sept 14: Seminole County Tax Collector: Lynn Moria Dictor, Democrat vs. J.R. Kroll, Republican
Tuesday, Sept 15: Seminole County Supervisor of Elections: Deborah Poulalion, Democrat vs. Chrisa Anderson, Republican (inc)
Tuesday, Sept 15: Seminole County Commission, District 1: Katrina Shadix, Democrat vs. Bob Dallari, Republican (inc)
Tuesday, Sept 15: Seminole County Commission, District 3: Kim Buchheit, Democrat vs. Lee Constantine, Republican (inc)
Tuesday, Sept 15: Seminole County Commission, District 5: Andre Klass, Libertarian vs. Blaize McMonagle Write-In vs. Pernell Bush, Democrat vs. Andria Herr, Republican
Wednesday, Sept 16: Orange County Property Appraiser: Tim Loucks, write-in vs. Amy Mercado
Wednesday, Sept 16: Orange County School Board, District 4: Prince Brown vs. Pam Gould
Wednesday, Sept 16: Orange County School Board, District 5: Vicki-Elaine Felder vs. Michael "Mike" Scott
Wednesday, Sept 16: Orange County School Board, District 6:
Henry Frederick is publisher of Headline Surfer, the award-winning 24/7 internet news outlet launched 12 years ago that serves greater Daytona Beach, Sanford & Orlando, Florida via HeadlineSurfer.com. Frederick has amassed more than a hundred journalism industry awards in print & online -- more than all other members of the working press combined in Central Florida since the mid-1990s. He earned his Master of Arts in New Media Journalism with academic honors from Full Sail University in 2019. Having witnessed the execution of serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Florida's death chamber and other high profile cases, Frederick has appeared on national crime documentary programs on Discovery ID and Reelz for his investigative reporting and cops & courts breaking news stories.