It looks like we don’t have to urge Lee Countians to cast a ballot this election cycle — voters are doing so in droves and that is a good thing.

The ballot headliner and greatest draw, of course, is the presidential race offering the Republican ticket of Donald J. Trump and JD Vance, and the Democratic slate of Kamala D. Harris and Tim Walz with choices among five third party pairings as well.

It’s not the only heated federal race on the ballot.

Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell is giving Republican incumbent Rick Scott a run for his money in the U.S. Senate race. Republican incumbent Byron Donalds, meanwhile, is facing a challenge from Democrat Kari L. Lerner in the District 19 congressional race.

County races of keen interest include the at-large, non-partisan District 7 School Board race between Vanessa Chaviano and Sheridan Chester; the at-large District 5 County Commission race between Republican incumbent Mike Greenwell and Democrat Kizzie Fowler, and the District 79 race for state representative between Republican Mike Giallombardo and Denise McCleary.

We’ll add another — the Sheriff’s race between Republican incumbent Carmine Marceno and write-in Michael Hollow who has proven to the far from the typical invisible “ghost candidate.”

And one more, this one a first-time-in-decades race due to a voter-approved change in how School District of Lee County administrative heads are chosen.

Lee County voters two years ago decided to make school superintendent an elective, rather than appointive, office.

The race is partisan and offers a choice between Denise Carlin, a Republican, and Victor Arias, a Democrat. The person elected will run the day-to day operations of the school district and will work in conjunction with, rather than directly for, the School Board of Lee County.

Also on the ballot for voters statewide are six state constitutional amendments — three of them controversial with big-money partisans on each side of the latter two: Amendment No. 1 – Partisan Election of Members of District School Boards, (We recommend a NO); Amendment No. 3 – Adult Personal Use of Marijuana and Amendment No. 4 – Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion.

All of the above races and proposed changes to Florida’s Constitution are important, something voters are acknowledging with what election officials are saying are record turnouts here for both mail-in and early voting.

But there are another five races that touch very close to home, affecting everything from how Cape Coral grows and develops to what amenities and infrastructure get prioritized to how much — and who pays — for such things.

There are five Cape Coral City Council races — a majority of seats — on the ballot and registered city voters may cast a ballot in each of the non-partisan races no matter the district in which they live.

The races and candidates are:

District 2 – Laurie Lehmann and Dan Sheppard (incumbent)

District 3 – Derrick Donnell and Deborah Lee McCormick

District 4 – Richard Carr (incumbent) and Jennifer Nelson

District 5 – Joseph Kilraine and Charlie Pease

District 7 – Michael Harper and Rachel Kaduk

We particularly urge participation in these city races.

These are the ones that affect the quality of our day-to-day lives, these are the ones that directly affect our wallets.

If you have not yet voted, here are two sources of information.

One, each candidate has a website. They are worth checking out and you may find them with this week’s Cape Coral City Council Candidate Question of the Week on pages 16 and 17.

Two, for those who want a deeper dive or to compare and contrast, The Breeze news team has provided coverage through both the primary and general election cycles.

In addition to news stories, The Breeze also has offered each candidate the opportunity to answer an issue-related question each week.

The stories, and answers to each Question of the Week may be found on our website, capecoralbreeze.com under Election 2024.

We invite you to read, and yes, we do urge you to vote. There’s a lot at stake from the local races to that hot headliner topping the ballot.

Breeze editorial