Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Democrats should try to win in Florida - Matt Yglesias
https://www.slowboring.com/p/democrats-should-try-to-win-in-floridaIn 2024, Donald Trump beat Kamala Harris 56.03 to 42.37 in Texas. Democrats in the state are currently engaged in a contested Senate primary between James Talarico and Jasmine Crockett — a race that until recently also featured Colin Allred, until he was squeezed out by Crockett’s entry.
In Florida, meanwhile, Trump beat Harris 55.87 to 42.82, a large margin that underscores the challenges any Democrat would face in a statewide contest there.
But the Florida margin is clearly smaller than the Texas margin, so on its face Florida should be a more promising pickup opportunity. And yet in the Florida Senate race, Democrats thus far have absolutely nothing. Not only has no one entered the race, the party has no real prospects. Top people keep assuring me that they’re close to sealing the deal with strong candidates in Alaska and Kansas, but even real optimists don’t claim to have anyone lined up to run in Florida.
This is a big mistake.
I don’t want to peddle some kind of unreasonable level of Sunshine State optimism since, yes, obviously the Republicans will probably win this race.
But the same is true of Alaska and Kansas and Texas and Iowa and Ohio, all of which are uphill, underdog races.
In Florida, meanwhile, Trump beat Harris 55.87 to 42.82, a large margin that underscores the challenges any Democrat would face in a statewide contest there.
But the Florida margin is clearly smaller than the Texas margin, so on its face Florida should be a more promising pickup opportunity. And yet in the Florida Senate race, Democrats thus far have absolutely nothing. Not only has no one entered the race, the party has no real prospects. Top people keep assuring me that they’re close to sealing the deal with strong candidates in Alaska and Kansas, but even real optimists don’t claim to have anyone lined up to run in Florida.
This is a big mistake.
I don’t want to peddle some kind of unreasonable level of Sunshine State optimism since, yes, obviously the Republicans will probably win this race.
But the same is true of Alaska and Kansas and Texas and Iowa and Ohio, all of which are uphill, underdog races.
This, from @mattyglesias.bsky.social, is very obviously correct. Not running a serious candidate in FL-Sen would be malpractice. www.slowboring.com/p/democrats-...
— Josh Chafetz (@joshchafetz.bsky.social) 2025-12-18T11:22:58.013Z