On April 1, 2025, strike a blow for freedom and democracy

In November 2000 Florida played a pivotal role in the election of George W. Bush as president of the United States.

On April 1, 2025, Florida can atone for that sin in a special election to fill two U.S. House seats. One is in District 6 and pits Democratic candidate Joshua Weil against Republican Randy Fine to fill the congressional seat vacated by Michael Waltz, who is now Donald Trump’s national security adviser. The other is in our own District 1, where Democrat Gay Valimont hopes to beat Republican Jimmy Patronis for the seat once held by Matt Gaetz, who resigned to be Trump’s attorney general.

If the Democrats win both seats they’ll reduce the Republican majority in the House to only three votes, which would severely constrain Trump’s efforts to steal our democracy.

I live in District 1 and I’ve looked into the candidacies of both Valimont and Patronis. You could not ask for a more stark contrast between two candidates.

Patronis has not once presented any idea or suggestion as to how he might represent the people of District 1 or make their lives better. All he has done is wrap himself in the flag of Donald Trump and blathered about how the Democrats hate MAGA.

Valimont, on the other hand, has a wealth of ideas.

For instance, she wants to locate a VA hospital in the Florida panhandle. That makes sense, given the panhandle’s large population of military personnel, both active duty and retired. To the west, in Escambia County, we have Pensacola Naval Air Station. In the county adjoining Escambia, Santa Rosa, lies Whiting Field, a Navy flight training school. To the far east is Tyndall Air Force Base. Here in Okaloosa County we have Eglin Air Force Base, the largest by area Air Force base in the world; Hurlburt Field, an Air Force special operations base; Duke Field, for the Air Force Reserve; an Army cantonment for the 7^th Special Forces, and the Destin Coast Guard station at the foot of the Marler Bridge.

The nearest VA hospital is in Biloxi, Miss. My father, when he was being treated for cancer, had to drive to Biloxi, about 2½ hours west of Fort Walton Beach. The VA has a clinic at Eglin but not a hospital.

Valimont also wants to protect the military mission, from Eglin’s water test ranges to military benefits for both active duty and retired, and the F-35 program, which Trump has threatened to cut.

She also wants to reinstate President Joe Biden’s cap on insulin costs. When Biden was president, insulin was capped at $35 per dose. When Trump was elected he eliminated that cap and now insulin costs vary widely, depending on whether a patient has insurance, what kind of insurance they have, and who the insulin supplier is.

Valimont says she has a plan for reducing the cost of homeowner’s insurance by 25 percent. As you know, homeowner’s insurance is a very big deal here in the state of Florida, where hurricanes have driven up the costs of insuring a house to the point where many homeowners are simply going without. My policy runs me about $4,000 per year, so a 25 percent cut would save me about $1,000.

Democrats have a long tradition of looking out for the interests of Northwest Florida. Back when I was a kid, Bob Sikes, the old he-coon, protected the panhandle’s military mission and generally looked after the folks who live here. My impression is Valimont wants to fill a similar role.

So on April 1, 2025, I’ll be voting for Gay Valimont. If you live in Florida’s District 1 I hope you’ll do the same. If you live in District 6 please consider voting for Josh Weil.

Together, we can strike a blow for the preservation of freedom and democracy in this country.

About the author:

Del Stone Jr. is a professional fiction writer. He is known primarily for his work in the contemporary dark fiction field, but has also published science fiction and contemporary fantasy. Stone’s stories, poetry and scripts have appeared in publications such as Amazing Stories, Eldritch Tales, and Bantam-Spectra’s Full Spectrum. His short fiction has been published in The Year’s Best Horror Stories XXII; Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine; the Pocket Books anthology More Phobias; the Barnes & Noble anthologies 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, Horrors! 365 Scary Stories, and 100 Astounding Little Alien Stories; the HWA anthology Psychos; and other short fiction venues, like Blood Muse, Live Without a Net, Zombiesque and Sex Macabre. Stone’s comic book debut was in the Clive Barker series of books, Hellraiser, published by Marvel/Epic and reprinted in The Best of Hellraiser anthology. He has also published stories in Penthouse Comix, and worked with artist Dave Dorman on many projects, including the illustrated novella “Roadkill,” a short story for the Andrew Vachss anthology Underground from Dark Horse, an ashcan titled “December” for Hero Illustrated, and several of Dorman’s Wasted Lands novellas and comics, such as Rail from Image and “The Uninvited.” Stone’s novel, Dead Heat, won the 1996 International Horror Guild’s award for best first novel and was a runner-up for the Bram Stoker Award. Stone has also been a finalist for the IHG award for short fiction, the British Fantasy Award for best novella, and a semifinalist for the Nebula and Writers of the Future awards. His stories have appeared in anthologies that have won the Bram Stoker Award and the World Fantasy Award. Two of his works were optioned for film, the novella “Black Tide” and short story “Crisis Line.”

Stone recently retired after a 41-year career in journalism. He won numerous awards for his work, and in 1986 was named Florida’s best columnist in his circulation division by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. In 2001 he received an honorable mention from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his essay “When Freedom of Speech Ends” and in 2003 he was voted Best of the Best in the category of columnists by Emerald Coast Magazine. He participated in book signings and awareness campaigns, and was a guest on local television and radio programs.

As an addendum, Stone is single, kills tomatoes and morning glories with ruthless efficiency, once tied the stem of a cocktail cherry in a knot with his tongue, and carries a permanent scar on his chest after having been shot with a paintball gun. He’s in his 60s as of this writing but doesn’t look a day over 94.

Contact Del at [email protected]. He is also on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, tumblr, TikTok, and Instagram. Visit his website at delstonejr.com .