To the editor:

Lee County voters are being marginalized by the use of an election loophole to prop up a write-in candidate to close the primary in the Lee County Commission District 3 race. Closing the primary benefits Commissioner Larry Kiker.

Eli Zonana, a pre-arranged write-in candidate who has no intention of actually running for office and, according to Florida law, does not even have to be a resident of the state, closes the primary to only registered Republican voters. In this case eliminating Democrats and non-party affiliated voters – more than 230,000 registered Lee County voters!

This strategy will fail because Republicans in Lee County are well-aware that Mr. Kiker’s election to the Lee County Commission in 2012 was directly attributable to the generous financial support of Big Sugar, via a political action committee (PAC). Not surprisingly, Kiker has been noticeably silent on responding to the dirty water crises impacting our tourism and real estate based economy and our environment.

Is the slimy green sludge fouling the shoreline on the Florida east coast heading here? Time will tell. If so, will that prompt him to slap the hand that feeds him?

Joe Miceli

Estero