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Jeb Bush is defending the state’s decision to appeal a decision barring elections supervisors from putting up signs explaining that a vote for Mark Foley is not a vote for Mark Foley. The ex-Florida congressman resigned last month over sexually explicit emails and instant messages to teenage congressional pages. Now state Rep. Joe Negron has been appointed to replace Foley as the Republican candidate for his seat. But Foley’s name is still on the ballot. The governor thinks elections officials should have a right to post notices explaining the situation.. Late Friday afternoon, the First District Court of Appeals agreed with the Governor. Poll workers will be allowed to hand out information saying a vote for Foley is a vote for Negron.

“I think it’s education,” Bush said. “I’m not a judge and I’m not a lawyer. I try to apply common sense to these things and the fact of the matter is Mark Foley is not running for Congress. He’s a disgraced congressman. Our laws require that his name stay on the ballot. There’s someone else running. To be able to provide information without gearing a candidate one way or another, or a voter one way or another to a candidate seems to make sense but we’ll let an appellate court make that decision. That’s why it was appealed, because at the Circuit level the decision didn’t make common sense.”