Scott Powers
One of the key reasons Democrat Margaret Good won the House District 72 special election Tuesday was because she and the Democratic Party pushed local issues while Republicans pushed national issues, Florida Democratic Party Executive Director Juan Penalosa said Wednesday.
Good beat Republican James Buchanan 53-45 in a district that has long been considered red, and which Donald Trump won by 10 points in 2016.
Penalosa said Good and other Democrats focused on such issues as public education and distribution of well-paying jobs, while Republicans are running on issues of national interest, such as the party’s position against sanctuary cities and concerns over immigration.
“They’re speaking to the broader national issues. They’re trying to make it about Trump. Like for example with the Margaret Good election, when [former Trump campaign manager] Corey Lewandowski came down, they were doing ‘Lock her up!’ chants,” he said.
“I think the GOP, particularly in this state, is looking backward and trying to re-litigate the 2016 election, which, you know, voters have moved on,” he added.
Penalosa said that the Democrats will pursue the strategy of identifying and focusing on local issues for this fall’s elections.
“You’re going to see Democratic candidates across the state hone in on messages that matter to their communities,” Penalosa said.
Penalosa took issue with he said was the GOP-provided spin that Republicans had fumbled the HD 72 race; there wasn’t much to read into it for future elections.
“I would argue the opposite,” he said. “We have a recent string of victories. I think we have a united front.”
Penalosa’s comments came at a news conference intended to introduce Good to the capital press corps in Tallahassee and to give House Democratic Leader Janet Cruz of Tampa and House Democratic Leader-Designate Kionne McGhee of Miami a chance to weigh in. But the Florida Legislature Democratic Caucus meeting ran late, and Penalosa had to attend alone.
One comment
Linda M.
February 14, 2018 at 2:05 pm
From this article: “You’re going to see Democratic candidates across the state hone in on messages that matter to their communities,” Penalosa said.
So very, very true. For example, as Florida residents recognize the attempt to strip away home rule over short-term rentals by their so-called representatives, and their neighborhoods become rotating groups of weekly/daily strangers, you’ll see more Democrats winning, and Republicans like Senator Steube and Representative La Rosa, who represent the short-term vacation rental industry rather than representing their
constituents, will lose more elections.
Congrats, Ms. Good!
Comments are closed.