Phil Ammann
Now that the Florida Senate gave up the ghost in its redistricting legal battle, both incumbent state Sens. Anitere Flores and Dwight Bullard will need to decide who is running where.
Mary Ellen Klas reports in the Miami Herald that the two now reside in the newly redrawn Senate District 40.
In a new agreement between the incumbents, Klas writes that Flores “will move” to neighboring District 39, with Bullard “staying put” in SD 40, according to incoming Senate Democratic leader Oscar Braynon, who is from Miami Gardens.
With its large Hispanic population, Klas notes that SD 40 has “big swaths” of Flores’ current district; in a presidential cycle, the area is sure to continue to lean Democratic — it supported Barack Obama in 2012.
Bullard, the Cutler Bay Democrat, will run in SD 40 as Flores moves to District 39, which is now open. That area also voted for Barack Obama in 2012 by 52.6 percent.
Klas asked Branyon whether Flores received any assurances that no Democrat will mount a challenge.
“I haven’t gotten that request yet,” he told the Times/Herald. “The way things are with Trump at the top of the ticket, I would be open to that but there are still factors — like who declares where and who are the candidates that come to us, and it will be more of an allocation of resources than anything.
“If I have a chance to go after seats that perform better for us, this district may not make my Top 10.”
Flores’ fundraising prowess is also sure to dissuade any comers. After raising $388,056 in 2015, her political committee also banked another $48,000 in the week before the 2016 Legislative Session.
