Blue Dogs back Margaret Good in challenge against Vern Buchanan
State Rep. Margaret Good

Margaret_Good.5a838ce4956b0
Stephanie Murphy even put in some nice words for the Sarasota Democrat.

Sarasota Democrat Margaret Good picked up a major endorsement from the moderate Blue Dog Coalition.

As Good challenges seven-term incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, she said the endorsement shows her as the fiscally conservative choice.

“Elected officials are the stewards of the funds of the American people,” Good said. “It is our job to make responsible decisions about how our tax dollars are spent.

“We are now facing a $22 trillion federal deficit, which threatens the strength of our economy. We need fiscally responsible representatives who are committed to balancing our budget. I commit to prioritizing balancing our budget and ensuring our taxpayer dollars are used to address our most pressing needs,”

This marks the first endorsement issued by the Blue Dogs during the 2020 election cycle, a sign of the growing national excitement over Good’s candidate, her team said.

The move also seems especially notable considering U.S. Rep. Stephanie Murphy, an Orlando Democrat, was tapped last year as chair for the Blue Dogs.

It’s an aggressive move to back a challenger to any incumbent, but the Murphy-led group just backed the Democrat seeking to unseat Buchanan, co-chair of Florida’s Congressional Delegation.

The reason?

“Margaret Good has a strong bipartisan record of getting things done, and Congress could use more people like her who are willing to put results over rhetoric,” Murphy said.

“I’m incredibly proud to endorse Margaret for Congress, and I’m even more excited she will join the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of pragmatic Democrats who fight for fiscal responsibility and a strong national security. Margaret will help end the partisan politics that hurt working families and will be a strong voice for Central Florida — finding commonsense solutions to our most challenging problems.”

Of course, Buchanan has long presented himself as a fiscal hawk, and has championed a Balanced Budget Amendment. But Good’s team scoffs at that as empty rhetoric, noting Buchanan has voted over 13 years for budgets increasing the national debt.

Jacob Ogles

Jacob Ogles has covered politics in Florida since 2000 for regional outlets including SRQ Magazine in Sarasota, The News-Press in Fort Myers and The Daily Commercial in Leesburg. His work has appeared nationally in The Advocate, Wired and other publications. Events like SRQ’s Where The Votes Are workshops made Ogles one of Southwest Florida’s most respected political analysts, and outlets like WWSB ABC 7 and WSRQ Sarasota have featured his insights. He can be reached at [email protected].


2 comments

  • DisplacedCTYankee

    December 11, 2019 at 9:32 am

    The federal budget has no chance of being balanced unless and until the early-2017 Republican tax cuts for rich people and corporations are reversed. Repubs and “fiscally responsible ‘Blue Dogs'” should stop Trump’s theft for weekend trips to his resorts while at the same his administration threatens cuts to food stamps for people who are hungry. Ms. Good will get nowhere by trying to pander to old, white, rich conservatives retired in $300K houses in Sarasota.

  • CT is Broke

    December 11, 2019 at 3:42 pm

    Federal revenues are at an all-time high. They’re gone down year-to-year four times out of the last sixty years The problem with budget is not revenues, it’s expenses.

Comments are closed.


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