COMMENTARY
MILT THOMAS
I have received, along with most Indian River County residents, mailers either defining or defiling candidates in the upcoming Republican primary. Taking the headline theme of each mailer, let’s see what they are saying to voters in order to convince us who we should vote for:
The State Senate candidates for newly created District 17 (Indian River County and Southern Brevard) are our own Debbie Mayfield and Brevard County residents Ritch Workman and Mike Thomas. Judging from mailers received, the race is between Mayfield and Workman.
Workman’s first mailer touted his credentials as a Christian (Defending our faith) and anti-Muslim. So much for non-Christian voters, especially Muslim-Americans. His second mailer details his stand against illegal immigrants. He has also sent out two mailers against “Dishonest Debbie.” Come on, Ritch; are you vying for the mini-Trump vote?
Mayfield has four mailers in my unscientific analysis of direct mail advertising. In two of them she is against illegal immigrants and two others she is against Common Core.
By far the “winner” in terms of quantity is Ritch Workman, who was the subject of six anti-Ritch mailers. His worst offense apparently was voting to give law licenses to illegal immigrants. That was the theme of five ads. I didn’t realize illegal immigrant lawyers were such a problem. Maybe legal immigrant lawyers don’t care for the low cost competition. In the sixth mailer, Workman is accused of corruption and cover up, as well as the real deal breaker in this election, being a “career politician.”
Dale Glading, running for District 54 State Representative, asks us to “pray for our nation” and that God presumably calls him. For those voters who do not pray to his God, better find another candidate. (That is only meant to point out what everyone already knows, that elected officials are supposed to represent all voters regardless of religious beliefs.)
School board candidates John Kim and Laura Zorc were positive (so far) in their mailings, actually stressing their qualifications for office.
County Commission candidate for re-election, Bob Solari, is generally positive in his mailers, although championing his efforts to promote “the” sale of Vero Electric to FPL is a hollow promise since there is no “the” sale.
The winners in terms of positive mailers are Greg McKay, running for District 54, Tim Zorc, running for reelection to the County Commission, Joe Earman, opposing Tim Zorc, and Wesley Davis, running for Property Appraiser. Keep up the good work boys, and please don’t disappoint me with negative mailers as we near the primary election finish line.
Indian River Guardian 
Bob Solari keeps “beating a dead horse” with his FPL sale.If Turner, Carroll and Fletcher couldn’t sell it how can anyone else complete the sale . The answer is they can’t. I take offense at Solari’s mailer in which he claims to take credit in efforts to clean the lagoon. He ,was in fact, the one person mainly responsible for keeping the county off the lagoon council. We are lucky Vero, Sebastian and Fellsmere stepped in and joined. Tim Zorc who is also running for re-election this year was equally responsible for keeping Indian River County off the council. Zorc’s being in favor of the high speed train will cost Zorc many votes.
I just listened to a Tim Zorc political ad on the radio in which he comes out against the high speed train coming thru our area. Great, but why was his initial position in favor of this high speed train? Why the change of position? Wasn’t the train going up to 110 mph when he was in favor of it, and won’t it be going just as fast now that he is against it. The train was a bad idea when first announced and it is still a bad idea now. I ask Mr Zorc to explain .