Politics
Rubio Edges Lefty Demings in Important Florida Senate Race
Big news out of the Sunshine State, as Marco Rubio has been projected to hold his third Senate term, continuing and perhaps cementing the transformation of Florida to a red state. Rubio ran unsuccessfully for President in 2016, and many felt the upset was possible from far-left Val Demings, but the people of Florida said, ‘not so fast’.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is projected to defeat his Democratic rival, Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.), sending him to a third term in the Senate.
CNN and Fox News called the the race for Rubio at around 8 p.m.
Rubio’s victory is likely to help cement the notion that Florida, a longtime battleground and now the nation’s third largest state, has become reliably Republican territory.
Demings’s defeat is only the latest on a growing list of Democratic losses in the Sunshine State, coming just four years after Sen. Bill Nelson, a longtime staple of Florida Democratic politics, was ousted from office.
— Rob Mattox (@RobMattox2) November 9, 2022
Florida has flourished under Republican leadership, especially since Ron DeSantis took over as Governor, and Floridians certainly had to be asking, why mess with success? Florida was the model for Covid response and has boomed under DeSantis.
Of course, winning in Florida was never going to be easy for Democrats. For one, the 2022 midterm cycle was long expected to be a punishing one for the party, which went into Election Day with full control of Congress and the White House.
But Demings also had other obstacles, most notably the growing Republican advantage in Florida. The GOP surpassed Democrats in voter registration numbers last year, and that advantage has only continued to grow.
It certainly didn’t help Demings that Joe Biden has largely botched the Hispanic vote, particularly in Florida. The transformation to a deep red state was too much for Demings to overcome, and Rubio handled her easily, keeping an important seat and keeping Florida red.
