Well, this came as a surprise when it arrived in the Bay Buzz's e-mail this morning. The editorial board at Lakeland Ledger endorsed Democrat John Russell for Congress instead of incumbent Republican Ginny Brown-Waite.

In the Democratic primary earlier this year, some newspaper editorial boards refused to endorse any candidate. The Orlando Sentinel editorial board put it this way: "We Think: The Democrats deserve better candidates." So this is quite a turnaround. And possibly the first time Russell received an editorial board endorsement in the general election.

John Frank, Times staff writer