There's more than a year to go until the 2020 election, and already the campaign cycle is gearing up. Republican political analyst Frank Torres and Democratic political analyst Jason Henry join Matthew Peddie on Intersection to discuss Aramis Ayala's decision not to seek reelection, former Broward County deputy Scot Peterson's arrest, President Trump's reelection campaign and more.
Orange Osceola County State Attorney Aramis Ayala cited her stance on the death penalty as a reason for her not seeking reelection. Torres thinks that candidates and voters should be more open about what their opinions are on the death penalty so that there is no repeated surprise when someone enters the office.
"The chaos behind this office continues. This is the fourth straight election and we're gonna have a fourth different Orange Osceola county State Attorney in a really important job. And people need to speak up! I bet you these candidates are gonna be listening to this show, they need to let people know what they think of the death penalty," Torres said.
"Voters need to make sure their voices are heard and let these candidates know what they think about the death penalty so we don't have any more situations like the one we're getting out of."
Jason Henry says Trump's campaign launch in Orlando is "sticking it to Democrats to be honest with you. [The] I-4 corridor is very important obviously to winning Florida. But not only that, Orange county and the city of Orlando is kind of a hotbed for democrats. The county is blue, they have really high voter registration advantage over republicans and NPA's in the county and I think that Trump's campaign manager was very shrewd in picking this area," Henry said.
"So I thought from a political standpoint it was actually pretty smart."
Former Broward County deputy Scot Peterson was arrested and charged with 11 criminal counts including child neglect following his response to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting.
"I believe one lawmaker called him 'the coward from Broward,' and I think that's accurate," said Torres.
"I mean, we'll find out more as the case goes on but i think it was completely warranted." Torres said.
"I think this is all political," said Henry.
"We had the officer in the Pulse tragedy that engaged the shooter outside but never went inside of the building and while he was hailed as a hero, there were some folks calling him a coward as well." Henry said.
"One thing that I thought was interesting about this was the legislation that they just passed to arm teachers, this may open them up to receive charges the same as Scot Peterson has if they fail to engage a shooter."