When a bipartisan group formed in Orange County this year to stage debates among local candidates — so voters could better evaluate their choices — many people applauded.

I sure did. Most of us, after all, want fewer attack ads and more honest answers.

There’s just one problem: Candidates in nearly half the legislative races have refused to even show up.

These no-shows want your vote to get into office but are unwilling to answer questions about what they plan on doing after they get there.

A similar problem can be seen in the latest edition of the voter guide for the League of Women Voters of Florida — a great resource, because it allows candidates to answer basic policy questions in their own words with no endorsements or spin.

In past years, all statewide candidates responded — Rick Scott, Pam Bondi, Charlie Crist, all of ‘em.

But this year, candidates in three of Florida’s four statewide races — Republicans Ron DeSantis for governor, Ashley Moody for attorney general and CFO Jimmy Patronis — didn’t answer a single question about their platform.

As a result, the League just printed 275,000 voter guides with a lot of blank spaces.

“We were surprised and disappointed,” said League president Patti Brigham. “The public deserves to know where all of the candidates stand.”

She’s right, of course. And voters should refuse to cast ballots for those who cower. (There’s still time for candidates to submit their responses for the online edition of the guide — the version more voters may use anyway.)

See, if you elect candidates who dodge debates and cower from questions, you’ll obviously see more dodging and cowering in the future. You’re teaching them such tactics are a recipe for victory.

And the League’s questions are all pretty basic. Candidates for A.G. are asked if they’re willing to prosecute public officials accused of misconduct. Aspiring CFOs are asked how they’d invest state dollars. And the gubernatorial wannabes get the chance to lay out their positions on key issues such as schools, the environment and guns.

You can check out the League’s voter guide at vote411.org/ballot. And you can watch the Commission on Local Debates’ first forum, featuring two candidates who mustered the courage to show up — Democratic State Rep. Amy Mercado and Republican challenger George Chandler in District 48 — at localdebates.org/florida/orange.

Chick-fil-Nude

This week’s only-in-Florida headlines: “Naked Florida man tries to start fight club at Chick-fil-A” … “Kangaroo named Storm is on the loose in Florida” … “Man accused of pulling gun from Bible and hitting another in face, private parts”

One of the (many) problems with that fight club at Chick-fil-A: It couldn’t meet on Sundays.

The state of statehood

There may be squabbling in Washington about whether Puerto Rico should be the 51st U.S. state. But here in Florida, there isn’t much disagreement. At least not among politicians. As reporter Bianca Padró Ocasio reported yesterday, Rick Scott, Bill Nelson, Ron DeSantis and Andrew Gillum have all supported statehood.

And I can take that a step further: When I moderated a forum featuring congressional candidates from three different districts last month, statehood for Puerto Rico was just about the only issue that every candidate there agreed upon.

Your top issues

If I asked you to guess which issue Florida voters care about most, what would you say?

The economy? Nope.

Crime? Try again.

Guns? Not even close.

According to a recent poll by the University of North Florida, the top three issues are education, environment and health care.

The environment is the one that really struck me. I don’t recall that being such a high priority for voters in most years past.

Of course, in most years past, there weren’t giant swaths of toxic, foul-smelling algae crippling the state.

Traditionally, the environment, education and health care are issues that play well for Democratic candidates. But there’s still a lot of time left. Plus, if you’re a Florida Republican, you can say: Hey, we’re the reason why you AREN’T worried about crime and the economy anymore! We took care of business …if you don’t talk to our teachers or look at our sludge, anyway.

Here’s the full breakdown of responses when potential voters were asked: “What do you think is the most important problem facing Florida today?”

Education (20 percent); environment (18 percent); health care (18 percent); immigration (13 percent); economy/jobs (10 percent); crime (10 percent); terrorism (2 percent); gun policies (1 percent).

smaxwell@orlandosentinel.com