TODAY IS THE DAY WE FINALIZE THE BALLOT LIST

Qualifying for the upcoming elections will end at noon today, so it should be a busy day at Supervisor of Elections offices throughout the state and the Department of Elections office in Tallahassee.

There have been a few surprises, and at least one incumbant --- Polk County Commissioner Randy Wilkinson --- has not qualified to have his name on the ballot for reelection. I fully expect that to be resolved this morning.

One thing that is always interesting is to check out the Web sites of the candidates that you may never hear of, at least in the mainstream media. Although virtually all of them don't have a snowball's chance in a Florida July to get elected, at least a few of them have some ideas worth reading.

There are actually 11 candidates for Bill Nelson's U.S. Senate seat, with four choices on the GOP side. As for governor, there are now 18 candidates who have officially qualified --- five Democrats, four Republicans, a Reformer, a Socialist Worker, four write-ins (including a Socialist), and three No Party Affiliation. Five of them don't even have Web sites, which should be considered a must-have to actively communicate with an electorate as diverse and wide spread geographically as Florida is.

The race I'll be watching closely is the Democratic primary in U.S. House District 5, currently held by Republican Virginia "Ginny" Brown-Waite. The two main Democrats seeking to challenge Ginny are teacher Rick Penberthy of Wesley Chapel and Registered Nurse John T. Russell of Dade City. Both men are quite knowledgable and present themselves well.

Check out the post immediately below this, which includes the complete list of statewide and local candidates in Polk County who have qualified to be on the ballot. I'll be updating it this afternoon/evening after qualifying ends.