Florida voters have been hitting the polls in the last week in the run-up to today’s election. Local and statewide races could be decided this evening, while others head to runoffs in November. And both Democrat and Republican Party heads are hoping for success up and down the ballot.
Florida’s Democratic Party is reporting a boost in fundraising. The Party outraised Republicans for the first time in years, and Party Chairwoman Allison Tant hopes that means the party can begin chipping away at Republican majorities in state and local politics:
“It’s the primaries statewide," Tant says of the August 30th Election Day. "For the U.S. Senate, that’s the only statewide [election]. But here locally, we’ve got two congressional races, for Congressional 2 and Congressional 5, with Democrats in both of those. And we are ready to put our nose to the grindstone August 30-31st and push forward to get the Democrats elected up and down the ballot.”
But not so fast, says Republican Party of Florida Chairman, Blaise Ingoglia. In an interview with The Rotunda podcast, Ingoglia is predicting his party will be victorious in the primaries. And he’s banking on Republican wins in November, when the party will have GOP Presidential nominee Donald Trump at the top of the ticket. Trump’s rhetoric is considered divisive by many, but Ingoglia’s message is this: the Republican Party is not one person.
“The Republican Party is about opportunity. We don’t say the opportunity is only for one segment of the population. We say it’s for everyone. One of the things we’re fighting for and try to get across to the Hispanic community is there are reasons you A) come to the United States and B) come to Florida.”
Voters will see a statewide U.S. Senate race on their ballot as Republican builder Carlos Beruff tries to unseat Senator Marco Rubio. And the challenge is also coming from Democrats, as Pam Keith and Congressmen Alan Grayson and Patrick Murphy vie for their party’s nod to challenge Rubio as well. Most of the state House is up for election and many state Senate races are yet to be decided.
