State Rep. Dan Gelber of Miami Beach has been a formidable political force in the Florida House of Representatives for eight years and an energetic and astute minority leader for Democrats in the last two sessions. Term-limited in the lower chamber, he is seeking to move up to the Senate. He gets our recommendation on the basis of his leadership, statesmanship, legislative skills and considerable expertise on policy.

Mr. Gelber, 47, is running for a seat that covers part of northeastern Miami-Dade County and a portion of Broward. His opponent, Republican Dean Santoro, 41, is an information-technology consultant making his first run for public office. Mr. Santoro's limited-government approach to public policy extends to the realm of marriage. He disagrees with the right of the state to perform marriages because ``marriage is a religious sacrament and should be performed strictly within the confines of religion.''

The candidates differ on a variety of issues. Mr. Gelber opposes an expansion of gambling; Mr. Santoro favors it. Mr. Santoro supports coastal drilling beyond a 25-mile limit; Mr. Gelber wants to keep the broader, existing moratorium.

Mr. Santoro emphasizes a need to cut local and state government spending; Mr. Gelber emphasizes the harm done by cutting spending for education, children's services and other vital needs.

Mr. Gelber believes that Florida is being transformed from a mid-wage, low-cost state to a low-wage, high-cost state, a path that could imperil the state's future and the well-being of its residents.

Throughout his legislative career, Mr. Gelber has been an able and effective advocate for education, healthcare, public safety, environmental concerns and other issues.

Join the discussion

Note: If this is your first time using our NEW commenting system, you will have to LOG OUT and then LOG BACK IN.

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.CommentBody@

@Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@