Will you propose a budget and instruct state agencies to take actions within their power that alleviate Florida’s over-incarceration crisis?

Candidate Response: Yes

Will you require the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and other state agencies to track, analyze, and publish criminal justice data as required by state law?

Candidate Response: Yes

Will you support legislation that requires accused individuals to be released on recognizance for all property and drug misdemeanor offenses and technical violations of probation?

Candidate Response: Yes

Will you support legislation to end unaffordable bail?

Candidate Response: Yes

Will you support legislation that eliminates the suspension or revocation of drivers’ licenses for actions unrelated to driving?

Candidate Response: Yes

Will you commit to automatic restoration of all civil rights for people who have completed the terms of clemency?

Candidate Response: Yes

Will you support Floridians’ right to privacy, including abortion care, and veto any legislation that bans or restricts the right to abortion protected by Florida’s Constitution?

Candidate Response: Yes

Will you support individuals’ right to access appropriate healthcare in consultation with their doctors?

Candidate Response: Yes

Will you support legislation decriminalizing the possession and use of marijuana?

Candidate Response: Yes

Will you instruct the Florida Board of Medicine and other state agencies to refrain from enforcement actions against doctors who provide medically necessary care, in consultation with their patients?

Candidate Response: Yes

Is there anything else you’d like to add regarding your positions and views on civil-rights and civil-liberties issues in Florida?

Candidate Response:

This is the most consequential Florida election of our lifetimes. Our constitutional rights and our democracy are at stake in the race for governor. Incumbent Gov. Ron DeSantis talks about freedom, but he is methodically taking away and eroding the freedoms of Floridians. Those include:

• The rights of women to make their own decisions about their reproductive health care;

• The right to vote;

• The rights of businesses to protect their employees and customers and to create a workplace where everyone is treated equally;

• The rights of voters to elect local officials to act in the best interest of their communities;

• The rights of LGBTQ residents to be treated equally;

• The free speech rights of students and educators, the freedom to provide appropriate books to students, and the freedom to teach an accurate accounting of our nation’s history without fear of retribution.

This autocratic approach to governing does not reflect the Florida I know and love, and it mirrors the practices of dictators in other countries. I have a clear record of protecting our fundamental rights in Tallahassee and in Washington, and I will do it again if I am fortunate enough to become Florida’s next governor. I am going to preserve and protect our constitutional rights - including the rights of women to make their own health-care decisions, the right to vote, the rights of all Floridians to be treated equally, and the right to a quality public education.

When I served as Florida’s governor between 2007 and 2011, I appointed Florida Supreme Court Justice James Perry, who was backed by Planned Parenthood. I vetoed legislation that would have required women seeking abortions to view an ultrasound. As a member of Congress, I had a 100% score from Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice America.

On Day 1 of my administration, I will issue an executive order to protect the right to choose as it stood under Roe v. Wade in the state of Florida. I will prohibit all state agencies reporting to me from cooperating with any federal agency or state seeking to criminally charge an individual seeking an abortion in Florida or any doctor performing an abortion under the standards set forth by Roe v. Wade and T.W., the 1989 Florida Supreme Court opinion clearly stating that the privacy clause in the Florida Constitution applies to reproductive freedom. And I will veto any anti-choice legislation passed by the Legislature.

I will make it easier to vote, not harder. When I previously served as governor, I made it easier for the governor and Cabinet to restore felons’ rights and more than 155,000 Floridians automatically had their voting rights restored. When long lines developed at South Florida voting precincts on Election Day in 2008, I signed an executive order extending voting hours to ensure every voter had an opportunity to cast their ballot.

As governor, I will reverse the DeSantis limits on mail ballots that make it harder for Floridians – including my elderly parents – to vote. If the Legislature refuses to act, I will declare a state of emergency and make the changes myself before the next election – because the Republican attack on our democracy is an emergency. I will again make it easier for the governor and Cabinet to restore felons’ rights, and I will work to change the law so that Amendment 4 works as voters intended and Floridians who have served their time can vote while they continue to pay fines, fees and restitution. I will work to make Election Day a state holiday so that everyone has an opportunity to vote.

I also will demand that the Legislature repeal other DeSantis laws that have eroded our freedoms. Those include the “Stop Woke Act,’’ which illegally restricts how businesses and educational institutions can address issues involving race, ethnicity, gender and historical events; the “Don’t Say Gay’’ law that illegally restricts discussions about gender identity and sexual orientation; and a 2022 DeSantis education law that effectively bans books and has triggered such fear among teachers and administrators that the Sarasota County school district is refusing to distribute dictionaries donated by the Rotary Club.

This is the defining Florida election in my lifetime. Our freedoms, our democracy , and our civil liberties are at stake. As Florida’s next governor, I will work hard every day to restore those freedoms and preserve our democracy.