When was the last time you saw the Leon GOP get such good press?  Lately, we have had a lot of positive coverage in of all places….The Tallahassee Democrat!  See the front page headline for January 17, 2012 :

Leon GOP is working hard to get out the vote

12:07 AM, Jan. 17, 2012  |
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Capital Bureau

State and local Republicans are working to generate a big voter turnout in the Florida presidential primary on Jan. 31.

Leon County Elections Supervisor Ion Sancho said Monday 5,366 absentee ballots have been mailed to Republican voters —about 15 percent of the county’s GOP registration. He said 1,805 have been received by his office, and predicted the total of mailed-ballot requests will rise after the South Carolina primary on Saturday, when surviving candidates turn their attention from South Carolina to Florida.

Leon GOP state committeeman Jeff Howell said the local party is distributing leaflets with postcards attached, for voters to fill out and send to the county party. The Leon GOP will round them up and get them to Sancho in time for ballots to be mailed.

A political-action committee supporting Mitt Romney, the only major contender to visit Tallahassee recently, has been contacting Republican voters with mass mailings claiming that Newt Gingrich can’t beat President Obama because of his political “baggage.” Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Rick Perry and Ron Paul have mainly concentrated on South Carolina, where the primary is set for Saturday. Early voting in five Florida counties began Monday. It starts Saturday in Leon County.

It’s likely that Romney and one conservative alternative will emerge from the South Carolina primary, for a 10-day race in Florida.

“I think we’re going to have motivated voters in Florida, no matter what happens,” county GOP Chairman Bradley Maxwell said Monday. “If Romney wins South Carolina, he doesn’t want his people to decide, ‘We’ve got it in the bag,’ and stay home. And if he loses South Carolina, it’s a different ballgame.”

Maxwell said voter interest seems higher this year than in 2008, when Sen. John McCain won Florida and emerged as the prohibitive frontrunner. Whether Romney is 4-0 after Florida, or it’s a two-man race, Maxwell said, “Florida is going to be the crown jewel” of the early season.

Sancho’s office has been busily preparing for Jan. 31. He said his staff mailed more than 49,000 sample ballots to Leon Republicans. Last week, he ran the accuracy tests on voting machines, “which were flawless, so we’re ready to go on that front.” While the courthouse was closed for the holiday, Sancho even made sure the electricity is working at five library locations and the Leon County Courthouse rotunda, where early voting starts this weekend.

“Presidential preference primaries are generally not high-turnout elections. They come right after the holidays and, unless you’re a political junkie, you’re probably not paying much attention,” Sancho said, “There probably will be about the same turnout as last time.”

Unlike 2008, there is no Democratic primary this year, nor are there any referendum issues on the Leon County ballot. Four years ago, there was a statewide property-tax amendment that shared the presidential primary ballot, “but that was an anomaly,” Sancho said.

Leon County had 57 percent Republican turnout then.

“Generally, in our experience, the big influx of mailed ballots comes in the last six days before the election,” said Sancho.

He cautioned that, if voters have requested a mailed ballot and then decide to vote in person, they should bring the absentee ballot to the polls with them. Otherwise, they will have to vote by provisional ballot, which takes time for voters and Sancho’s poll workers.

He said absentee ballots can be requested by mail through Jan. 25 but must be in his office when the polls close on Jan. 31. Sancho said “we’ll have a runner who goes to the Post Office at 6 p.m.” to check the Elections Supervisor’s Office mailbox for every ballot.

Howell, who is treasurer of the state GOP, said the county party is sending its absentee-ballot request leaflets to new Republican residents and “super voters” who never miss an election. People who recently registered, and those with a long record of voting, are the most likely to be interested, he said.

Maxwell said early voting and mailed ballots are important to building the local party.

“I became chairman a year ago and that was my big push, going in, that we had to increase voter turnout,” he said. “Absentee balloting is a big part of that.”