Alfredo Menendez knows the power of his vote.

“Whenever you go into that voting booth, you can influence what politicians do. They respond to those who vote them in and those who contribute,” said the Colombian father of two who lives in Suntree.

Menendez will be among nearly 200,000 registered vo-ters expected to exercise their voting power in the Brevard County Primary Election on Tuesday, Aug. 26.

The primary election locks in the local party candidates that will appear on the ballot for the General Election on Nov. 4, which also includes the presidential and congressional races.

County election officials are predicting a higher-than-usual voter turnout rate in this primary, thanks in part to the early excitement kicked up by the presidential campaign, and frustration over the dipping housing market and rising gas prices.

“We’re looking somewhere at 60 to 65 percent of Brevard’s 332,663 registered voters going to the polls this time; and between 70 and 80 percent of them voting in the general election on Nov. 4,” said Duwayne Lundgren, assistant supervisor of elections.

He added that the local elections are generating interest because of three county commission races and three school board races as well as the Clerk of the Circuit Court contest between incumbent Scott Ellis and challenger Mitch Needelman, who is leaving his seat in the Florida House of Representatives.

A number of people are expected to take advantage of the county’s early voting program – where they can vote at any of the five elections offices scattered from Titusville to Palm Bay - that runs from Aug. 11-23.

“There definitely is a lot of interest in this year’s elections. Both the Republican and Democratic parties are really working hard to get a good voter turnout,” Lundgren said.

That includes courting the Hispanic vote, which is the fastest-growing voting bloc in the U.S. and Florida.

The number of Hispanic registered voters in Central Florida has quadrupled to about 650,000 over the last 18 years, according to Democracia USA, a national non-partisan Hispanic voter-registration group.

In a study released on July 31, the group also found that Hispanic voters tend to vote for the candidate not the political party.

Stuart Evans, communications chairman of the Brevard County Democratic Party, said both parties now recognize the impact Hispanic voters have on all levels of government, especially with the growing population.

“The Hispanic vote could be significant this year, especially if it turns out to be a tight election. It could be critical,” he said.

That scenario could play out in the presidential elections.

The Pew Hispanic Center surveyed more than 2,015 Latinos over the summer and found that Hispanic registered voters support Democrat Barack Obama for president nearly three times as much as they do Republican John McCain.

That’s a sharp turnaround from six months ago, when more Hispanics supported Hillary Clinton by a nearly 2-to-1 ratio.

In addition to presidential preferences, the survey revealed that most Hispanic voters rank education, cost-of-living, jobs and healthcare as the most important issues in the general election, followed by crime, the war in Iraq and immigration.

Menendez said he wants Brevard County leaders to control growth and development.

“I don’t want Brevard to turn into another Fort Lauderdale or South Florida,” he said, adding that he also wants to see more jobs come to the Space Coast.

“We need people in office who can bring more businesses and work to Brevard County,” said Menendez, president of Space Coast Information Systems in Melbourne.

Erica Rodriguez of Palm Bay, a Puerto Rican mother of two boys, said her thoughts are on the county school board races.

“We need to give our teachers the support and money they need for supplies and textbooks that will really teach our children. Also, our elected officials still need to deal with property insurance and taxes,” she said.

Ricky Pacheco wants to see change in the state and national government, but feels it should be done with divine guidance and wisdom.

“Right now, the country is basically in a recession, even if we don’t want to call it that. It’s been a real burden for families that were already on tight budgets,” said Pacheco, a minister who tries to bring renewed hope to those in his congregation at the Bride of the Lamb Church in Melbourne.

“The economy is what people are talking about. Whoever lands in the presidential seat will have a very, very hard task ahead of them in turning things around for this country,” he said.

John Anderson, president of the Brevard Republican Party, said that he regularly gets calls from people who are upset with the way the economy is going, especially higher gas prices and fuel costs.

“People have to remember that we – the people - are really the government. We elect people to represent us in deliberative assemblies like city councils, county commissions and Congress, but these same people are held accountable by all of us.

“It all starts in the voting booth,” he said.

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