I’m concerned about the direction of our country, yet I’m encouraged that many Christians have gotten involved by voting and running for office. The election is less than two weeks away and we must get out this message: If you’re a Christian, you must vote and encourage everyone you know to vote their values and not just for a party.
Four years ago I was encouraged when one of my best friends, Scott Plakon, ran for state legislature and won. He had long dreamed of serving in such a position and I did all I could to help get him elected from a very conservative district where I live.
Even though he was a new legislator, he got busy filing bills to help the unborn, to oppose the expansion of gambling and other issues having to do with wildlife and education. As a businessman, he has been focused on job creation and stimulating the economy, and has been quite successful. He has made a name for himself and, in the four years he has been in office, he has become known as one of the most outspoken conservatives who lives out his Christian values with integrity.
He has been so successful that the liberals—those in favor of same-sex marriage and pro-gambling interests—along with the powerful teachers’ unions, have targeted him for defeat. Last week, I read in the Orlando Sentinel that the teachers’ unions are putting up $100,000 to help defeat him.
Because legislative districts have been redrawn this year, Scott is running in a new district. The opposing party apparently recruited an attractive young schoolteacher from a powerful political family to oppose him. She is painting him as an extremist. Yet to me, she’s the extremist because she supports same-sex marriage—something that is banned by the Florida constitution; and she opposes any restrictions on abortion.
She may be a nice schoolteacher. But I don’t want her passing laws with those values.
I checked and only 600 of our 100,000 print subscribers live in the district. But I’m reaching out to them and to anyone else I know in that district to get out the word about this election. Much of what I’m telling you is behind-the-scenes information the secular press won’t report and that Scott can’t put into a 60-second political campaign commercial.
Most of my readers don’t live in his district. But you can pray. And if you feel so inclined, you can visit his website at ScottPlakon.com to contribute. He’s having one more fund-raiser and it’s said this campaign will end up being the most expensive house race in Florida.
This election will probably come to a couple hundred votes and it appears that the left is really energized. His opponent is apparently getting support from groups that do not like him nor do not like people like us.
There a few elections that are more clear-cut. We must get the message out to Christians that Scott is for virtually all the things that we believe in and his opponent is for virtually everything we oppose.
Most of Scott’s support is coming from secular people. Even as I’ve talked to Christians, and tell them what I’m telling you, many just say, “they’ll pray for him.” How can we get people in the pew energized to turn out for this election? If we lose people like Scott in the legislature we energize the other side to pick off “our people” one by one and we discourage future Scott Plakons from even running because it’s not fun to have to go through this.
There undoubtedly are races in your area that also have very high stakes. And, as I have written before, there is also a clear-cut alternative in the presidential race. So please pray. But more than that, put legs to your prayers by becoming active in those races that come down to candidates with very different values.
Please donate when you can, and if you are registered to vote in District 30 in Central Florida—including the northern tier of Orange County and the southern tier of Seminole County—please vote for Scott Plakon on Nov. 6.
Stephen Strang 
