Election season is heating up, and so are we! The Senate candidates are out in full force, criss-crossing the state to meet with voters, and we are working hard to make sure ONE has a presence at each campaign stop.

Just yesterday morning, I caught up with Governor Crist at Shelby’s Diner in Deerfield Beach, Florida where he received an endorsement from Robert F. Kennedy Jr. As the Governor entered the diner, he noticed my ONE shirt right away, shook my hand, thanked me for coming out and told me that we were doing very important work.

Sara and Gov. Crist

As the Governor moved on to talk with other voters, I got the chance to speak briefly with Robert Kennedy Jr. After introducing myself and ONE to him, I told him that more than 90,000 ONE members in Florida work across party lines to advocate for efforts that save lives, fight disease and strengthen our national security. As we were shaking hands, I talked with him about one of the founders of ONE, Bobby Shriver, who has been a great champion in the fight against extreme poverty and activism. Robert Kennedy thanked me for our work with ONE, right before heading to the stage for his speech.

With the election right around the corner, ONE volunteers are working harder than ever to maintain their strong presence on the campaign trail in Florida and to show the candidates that regardless of party affiliation, fighting global disease and extreme poverty must be a priority in the next Congress.

Want to get involved? Be sure to connect with other ONE Vote 2010 Florida members on Facebook and Twitter.

November’s midterm elections are fast approaching, and here in Florida, the U. S. Senate candidates are busy traveling the state to meet with voters.

Florida ONE members are just as busy making sure we have a presence at each event to talk to the candidates about ONE and encourage strong leadership in the fight against extreme poverty and preventable disease.

Over the weekend, we caught up with Florida’s governor and independent Senate candidate, Charlie Crist, at a meet and greet event at Delray Beach.

I thanked Crist for always taking time to stop and talk to ONE members across the state. I also told him that we appreciate his previous support of ONE and look forward to continuing this important dialogue as he campaigns for the U.S. Senate.

Already, there have been so many great ONE moments where our members have used their voice for the poorest people in the world — but we are not done yet!

If you are in Florida and want to get involved, please visit our Facebook page for details on upcoming candidate events near you.

-Sara Paterni

In the morning we went to the Everglades Lumberyard in Miami to hear Senator McCain speak. He was accompanied by fellow Republicans Governor Charlie Crist, Representatives Mario Diaz-Balart and Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Florida’s former Governor and current ONE Vote ’08 Co-Chair, Jeb Bush.

Just a few hours later Senators Obama and Biden held a campaign rally at the Bank Atlantic Center in Fort Lauderdale. Just when we thought we were not going to be able to get in, the security guards let us through and we found great seats just behind the stage.

With the election right around the corner, ONE volunteers are working harder than ever to maintain their strong presence on the campaign trail in Florida and to show the candidates that regardless of party affiliation, fighting global disease and extreme poverty must be a priority in the next administration.

-Sara Paterni

There have been so many, many, great ONE moments where ONE members have taken to the trail to use their voice for the poorest people in the world…and we are not done yet.

Check out a few more photos from FL where ONE Vote ’08 sprang into action and hit the trail in the days leading up to the primary.

-Matthew Bartlett