Since Gov. Rick Scott can’t run for a third consecutive term, the governor’s seat was wide open this year – and the number of candidates in the race is proof of that. We chose to focus on the most competitive candidates in both parties.

Based on the questions you said you had for the candidates, we recapped their stances on the following issues: guns, climate change and the environment, criminal justice, Amendment 4 (aka the Voter Restoration Act, or allowing felons who have completed their sentences to regain their right to vote), and marijuana legalization.

Democratic candidates:

• Andrew Gillum
• Gwen Graham
• Jeff Greene
• Chris King
• Philip Levine

Republican candidates:

• Ron DeSantis
• Adam Putnam

We’ve still included links to more information or the campaign websites for the other candidates. The winners of the Republican and Democratic primaries for this seat will face off in the November general election.

And last but not least, the most baffling races of all.

Not gonna lie, the circuit court and county court judge races are confusing as heck, which is probably why we got more questions about these races than any others. You had questions ranging from “What do these judges actually do?” to “How do I know who to vote for if they can’t have political affiliations?”

Because the judges can’t really campaign on platforms, you’ll find these profiles are way shorter than the others in the voter guide. Instead, we used some of that space to explain their roles, and what kind of things you can evaluate them on if not their party or political ideology.

Get to know the circuit court judicial candidates and county court judicial candidates, then pat yourself on the back, because you are officially a power voter if you know what to do with this section of your ballot.

Hard out here for an influencer. You see their perfectly curated Instagram feed, their masterful hashtag use and their hundreds of likes, but SoFlo influencers claim that it isn’t such a sweet life behind the scenes. The influencer life involves careful coordination with sponsors to make sure their posts still look like they’re coming from a “real human,” skillful photo editing, and even some coding skills. But we’re not exactly crying for them as they figure that out from a pool float in a luxury resort. (Miami Herald)

Transit throwdown. The battle over expanding Metrorail is headed to the courts. Coral Gables Commissioner Vince Lago, former Pinecrest Mayor Cindy Lerner, and resident Deltravis Williams filed a lawsuit against Miami-Dade County and Mayor Carlos Gimenez, arguing that the county hasn’t kept its promise to extend rail after voters approved additional taxes for that purpose back in 2002. They’re asking a judge to prevent the county from using transportation tax funds for anything other than rail expansion. The lawsuit comes during a battle over whether the county will extend rail or develop a bus rapid transit system instead to provide some transit relief to traffic-plagued South Dade. (Miami Herald)

What is Red Tide anyway? It’s been a rough summer along the southwest coast of Florida. A red tide algae bloom has poisoned and killed scores of fish and wildlife. But what causes the bloom and how it relates to the blue-green algae bloom in other parts of the state  is a little tough to understand. The Tampa Bay Times broke down the phenomenon, including how long it’s been happening, what role humans play, and when the bloom might end. (Tampa Bay Times)

Take the Metromover. Get a deal. As more Miami residents look to ditch their cars and take public transit, a new apartment building is offering a pretty sweet deal The Square Station building, at 1424 NE Miami Pl., is offering tenants a $100 rent discount if they don’t use their provided parking spot. The building is right by the School Board stop on the Metromover. (Fast Company)

Not a good look. People were a little freaked out when an 11-year-old hacker infiltrated a replica of Florida’s elections website in about 10 minutes and managed to alter the site’s display to show the wrong winner. But officials say we shouldn’t be too worried. Florida state department officials said the replica site likely didn’t have strong protections and even if a similar hack happened IRL, it wouldn’t affect actual vote counts. But just changing the display to show the wrong winner could still wreak plenty of havoc, and sow some damaging doubt. (Miami New Times)

Unacceptable. A University of Miami summer camp is under fire after a black camper told her mother that she was called the N-word by a fellow camper – and then made to apologize for how she reacted to the slur. Mahoro Amani told her mom that she was scolding another camper for using a derogatory term for lesbians when that camper used the N-word. Mahoro called the other child a “racist b—-” and said camp organizers asked her to apologize. We’re inclined to say profanity is, uh, not such an infraction in this case. UM said they’re looking into the situation. (WLRN)

THAT’S ALL FOR TODAY.

We’ll catch you mañana.

– The New Tropic