Florida Values Voter Guide

Florida Faith · Freedom · America First

Published Wednesday, August 19, 2026 · Independent editorial · Not an official ballot

After August 18: what November 3 still decides

If you voted Tuesday — or you sat it out because you’re NPA — here’s the honest version of what happened. August 18 was the primary. It nominated people. It did not finish the story. The home guide now carries unofficial Winner / Lost / Advances stamps from county election-night tables and Florida Election Watch. Those stamps are not the certified canvass. And a win does not raise a score. We don’t grade people for finishing first.

We’re the neighbors who read the public record — see About — not the Division of Elections and not a party office. The numbers were never a poll. They still aren’t a forecast.

What Tuesday actually decided

Florida’s August primary is mostly a nomination day. Republicans picked Republicans. Democrats picked Democrats. If you’re NPA, you typically saw the nonpartisan lines — school board, many judges, some mayors — and not the governor or Senate special primaries. That’s the closed primary, not a clerk’s mistake. Book-closing was July 20. Nobody can rewrite that registration now.

We already published a governor field essay for the whole Tuesday room: Fishback 41 / 35 / 15 A, Donalds 36 / 29 / 20 B (the formal Trump endorsement), Renner 36 / 33 / 19 B, Collins 34 / 32 / 19 B, Rodriguez 38 / 28 / 15 B, Williams 28 / 22 / 14 D, and Jolly 4 / 5 / 1 F. Unofficial election night: Byron Donalds won the Republican primary and David Jolly won the Democratic primary. Those two are the November pair unless the canvass says otherwise. Everyone else stays on the record as Tuesday’s field — not as a November choice.

Same story on the special U.S. Senate path. We scored six names: Moody 42 / 28 / 20 A, Rivera 30 / 21 / 14 D, Perry 27 / 23 / 14 D, Gleason 26 / 22 / 15 D, Nixon 6 / 4 / 0 F, and Vindman 4 / 3 / 0 F. Unofficial: Ashley Moody won the Republican primary and Angie Nixon won the Democratic primary. Only Republicans picked among Moody, Gleason, Perry, and Rivera. Only Democrats picked between Nixon and Vindman. The long version is U.S. Senate special 2026 values.

November is when NPA voters see the partisan matchups

If you’re registered NPA and you wanted a say in the Republican governor primary, you did not get that say on August 18. That can sting. It is still the law. November 3 is the other half of the story. Every registered voter — Republican, Democrat, or NPA — gets the same partisan general: governor, U.S. Senate special, U.S. House, legislative seats, and any partisan county office that still has two names.

That’s why an August sample ballot is the wrong paper in October. Names drop. New names appear. Amendments show up. Pull a new PDF with your full home address when general styles post. How to read that PDF. How to actually cast it.

Nonpartisan races: majority in August, or top two in November

School board, many judicial seats, and some city or county offices print without a party. Those lines were on Republican, Democratic, and NPA styles in August. Some of them ended Tuesday if someone cleared 50 percent. Some of them did not.

Orange County mayor is the example we keep coming back to, because every Orange voter could touch it. We scored four names: Messina 38 / 32 / 19 B, Uribe 4 / 4 / 0 F, Russell 0 / 1 / 0 F, Murphy 4 / 3 / 0 F. Unofficial Orange ENR, 263 of 263 precincts, nobody at 50 percent: Tiffany Moore Russell and Chris Messina advance. Murphy and Uribe lost. Confirm it at voteorangefl.gov and on Orange County mayor 2026. County landing: Orange County primary 2026.

School board uses the same civic rule and a different map. District 3 is not the countywide chair, and a ZIP does not pick the district. Orange’s researched cards stay on file: chair Alicia K. Farrant 32 / 26 / 14 C versus Angie Gallo 22 / 16 / 8 F; District 3 Ilia Adorno 30 / 26 / 14 C, Diana Moore 24 / 20 / 10 F, Susanne Marie Pena 20 / 14 / 6 F. Unofficial: Gallo won the chair outright; Peña and Moore advance in District 3. A values score is not a Winner stamp. Longer essay: Florida school boards are nonpartisan — and still a values race.

Amendments print in November, not as leftover August paper

The Department of State lists three 2026 general legislative referrals that made the ballot: Amendment 1 (the rainy-day fund), Amendment 2 (tangible personal property on agricultural land), and Amendment 3 (a larger homestead exemption and a lower cap on non-homestead assessment increases). They are November questions. Florida’s Constitution wants 60 percent. Citizen initiative petitions did not make 2026. A local tax or charter question can still show up on a county style — only the Supervisor’s PDF knows. Full walk-through: Florida’s 2026 amendments. The measures tab on the home guide is a companion, not a substitute for the official summary.

A missing cabinet line in August can still show up in November

Unopposed partisan races sometimes don’t print at all in August. Florida Attorney General is the cabinet example we already flagged: party primaries canceled, so the names may wait until the general style. A blank cabinet line on an August PDF was not a lost right to vote that office later. When November styles post, look again.

One more trap: the rare universal-primary exception, when a one-party field is opened to every registered voter. A crowded two-party statewide race is not that exception. Don’t rebuild a November ballot from memory of an August oddity.

How we’ll update — and what we won’t pretend

The rubric does not change because the calendar did. How we score is still 45 / 35 / 20. The letter is still the 100-point total. Badges are still filters. How to read a card is still the walkthrough. If you have a public page we missed, send it to hello@jesusvoter.com. A kind email is not a source by itself.

We will not invent a November opponent, guess a runoff, treat a concession speech as a certified result, or hide a low Christian score because a nominee is now “the conservative in the race.” If the public record that produced Jolly’s 4 / 5 / 1 or Vindman’s 4 / 3 / 0 is still the public record, the numbers stay.

A short November checklist

1. Confirm the party on your registration. It still matters for leftover partisan locals. It does not block you from the statewide general. 2. Download a new sample ballot by full address. ZIP is still not precinct. 3. Compare only the names on that PDF with the guide. Ignore the rest of the county dump. 4. Read the three bars and the letter. Use badges as a second pass, not as bonus points. 5. Read the three certified amendments from the official summaries, not from a slogan. Local measures live on the same PDF. 6. If you vote by mail, the ballot has to be received by Election Day — not just postmarked.

Florida is the only live state on this site. County landings live at /counties. Open the one you vote. Don’t wait for us to reprint sixty-seven sermons.