Herald recommends: Our choice for Senate District 38 brings common sense, compassion | Editorial
.png "Alexis Calatayud (left) and Janelle Perez compete in the election for Senate District 38.")
READ MORE
Editorial Board November 2022 Election Recommendations
In advance of local and state elections, the Editorial Board interviews political candidates to better understand their views on various issues and how their policies will affect their constituents. The goal is to give voters a better idea of who’s the best candidate for each race. Read our November 2022 recommendations below:
Expand All
Janelle Perez’s campaign for Florida Senate may be personal, but her vision for a livable, welcoming Florida should appeal to a broad constituency in District 38 and for Floridians in general.
Some of the Democratic candidate’s agenda is informed by her life experiences. “I’m a mom. I’m a cancer survivor and I’m a business owner,” she told the Editorial Board. She added: “I’m raising two little girls here in the state of Florida where now they have less rights than the Florida that I grew up in. And I want to champion them.”
This district, newly redrawn, has been represented by state Sen. Annette Taddeo, who is running for Congress, so there is no incumbent in this seat. The district encompasses Key Biscayne and runs west-southwest to Homestead, taking in South Miami, Pinecrest and Cutler Bay.
Perez’s Republican opponent, Alexis Calatayud, was director of policy and programs at the Florida Department of Education. She initially accepted the Editorial Board’s invitation to participate in a candidate interview but then, without explanation, declined, following the familiar MO of many, but not all, Republicans the Board sought to interview. She did not respond to our invitation to reschedule.
According to Calatayud’s campaign website, she seeks to create high-paying jobs, “keep our kids safe and school,” enhance school choice and increase teacher salaries and funding for public education. Unfortunately, she did not give us a chance to drill down deeper into her thinking.
Perez, 35, is a native of Miami-Dade County. She currently owns and operates Doctors Healthcare Plans, Inc., a Medicare HMO. She previously was based in Washington, D.C., working for then-U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. We commend this Democrat for her ability to work with a Republican representative.
We think her main concerns are the right ones. They include the soaring cost of homeowners’ insurance. As she told the Editorial Board as Hurricane Ian loomed offshore: “We have a catastrophic hurricane hitting a big portion of the state, and we are in a homeowners insurance crisis.”
Perez says the state should restore and direct all of the funds going into the Sadowski Housing Trust fund into addressing the affordable-housing shortage. We agree. Right now, some these funds are siphoned off for other uses.
She has some well-grounded ideas as to what it will take to improve working-class residents’ quality of life. For instance, she would work to allow Medicaid recipients to be weaned gradually from the program should they find employment that pays better.
Medicaid helps low-income families access all-important healthcare. Perez says that people are turning down jobs and promotions that pay more rather than risk being dropped from Medicaid because their salaries have increased. She wants to pull families back from what she calls the “Medicaid cliff.”
“We do not incentivize families and individuals to take raises or promotions at work, because they’re too afraid that they’re going to lose their healthcare if they just pass that threshold by a little bit,” she told the Board. “Let’s incentivize financial growth. Let’s incentivize going after the American Dream, bettering your life and your family situation.”
Perez also wants to push back against legislative Republicans’ culture wars, which have given them a political boost while dangerously dividing Floridians and promoting intolerance.
Referring to the parental-rights legislation known as the “Don’t say gay” law, which restricts discussion of sexual orientation in grades K-3, Perez, who is gay, said, “I would love for Tallahassee and the Department of Education to focus on the issues that our students and our parents are actually facing, and not book bans and things that continue to divide us.”
She calls state Republicans’ 15-week abortion ban government “overreach,” especially because there are no exceptions for rape and incest: “It is inhumane. It is absolutely awful. And they are forcing these women to relive their trauma and their pain by just making it worse.”
Perez’s time serving Ros-Lehtinen exposed her to the important issues and the legislative process. Back in Miami, Perez served on the LGBTQ advisory boards of both Miami-Dade County and the city of Miami, chairing the Miami board.
She brings a background of relevant professional experience, local community engagement, an understanding of the issues, credible solutions — and a heartening degree of compassion for fellow Floridians.
The Miami Herald Editorial Board recommends JANELLE PEREZ for state Senate District 38.
BEHIND THE STORY
MOREWho decides the political endorsements?
In advance of local and state elections, Miami Herald Editorial Board members interview political candidates, as well as advocates and opponents of ballot measures. The Editorial Board is composed of experienced opinion journalists and is independent of the Herald’s newsroom. Members of the Miami Herald Editorial Board are: Amy Driscoll, editorial page editor; and editorial writers Isadora Rangel and Mary Anna Mancuso. Read more by clicking the arrow in the upper right.
What does the endorsement process look like?
The Miami Herald Editorial Board interviews political candidates to better understand their views on public policy and how their policies will affect their constituents. Board members do additional reporting and research to learn as much as possible about the candidates before making an endorsement. The Editorial Board then convenes to discuss the candidates in each race. Board members seek to reach a consensus on the endorsements, but not every decision is unanimous. Candidates who decline to be interviewed will not receive an endorsement.
Is the Editorial Board partisan?
No. In making endorsements, members of the Editorial Board consider which candidates are better prepared to represent their constituents — not whether they agree with our editorial stances or belong to a particular political party. We evaluate candidates’ relevant experience, readiness for office, depth of knowledge of key issues and understanding of public policy. We’re seeking candidates who are thoughtful and who offer more than just party-line talking points.
This story was originally published October 18, 2022 at 2:18 PM.
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
