Today Floridians vote in Democratic and Republican Senate primaries. Commissioner of Education Betty Castor, a strong progressive endorsed by MoveOn, DFA, and the UFCW – which represented the employees of the University she served as President – has a commanding lead over Congressman Peter Deutsch, who’s been painting her as soft on terror and bashing Emily’s List as sexist for endorsing her, and Mayor Alex Pinelas, who refused in 2000 to endorse Al Gore or object to his constituents disenfranchisement at the polls. Most importantly, Castor has the intrepid support of my friend Val Baron. On the Republican side, former Congressman Bill McCollum has a couple-point lead on former Bush HUD Secretary Mel Martinez, who’s been attacking McCollum from the far right on gay marriage for supporting hate crime legislation. I’m confident Castor can take on either one.