Deutch Wins Easy Victory In FL-19 Special, As Expected
State Sen. Ted Deutch (D) handily won tonight's FL-19 special election over '08 nominee Ed Lynch (R), and the AP called the race with Deutch leading, 62-36%. A conservative-leaning third-party candidate Jim McCormick (D) took 3%.
The race was never expected to be close, but some were watching to see if the health care debate would have an impact in this heavily-Dem CD. If appeared to have a negligible effect, as Deutch won with margins just slightly under the norm for Dems in the CD.
Deutch entered the contest with tons of advantages, including the fact that he outraised Lynch by a $1.4M-$100K margin, and was helped by a 2-1 Dem registration advantage. Need more evidence of the CD's Dem bona fides: Pres. Obama took 66% of the vote here, and ex-Rep. Robert Wexler (D) -- whom Deutch will replace -- never took less than 66% in any of his bids.
But while Lynch operated on a shoe-string budget, he believed that the large bloc of seniors in his CD -- 40% -- would give him a chance, especially considering polls show that group is strongly opposed to the newly enacted health care law. Indeed, he found support among the Tea Party crowd, and he appeared on Fox News Channel and conservative radio programs to rally conservatives to his bid.
But he found little fundraising success, and wasn't able to overcome the huge barriers that any GOPer would encounter in this CD, particularly an under-funded one.
While he may have been hoping for another Scott Brown-like upset, Lynch was no Scott Brown, and Deutch was no Martha Coakley (D), as he was a strong campaigner and didn't take the easy race for granted. The GOP correctly saw little hope for a shocker, and the NRCC never entertained any hint of interest in the race. In the end, all these elements added up to a strong Dem win.
The nat'l environment is awful for Dems, as today's Gallup poll (which gave GOPers a 4% lead on the Cong. generic ballot) shows, but a close race or a loss here would've meant Dems were in for historic losses on election night. That didn't happen. Look to special elections in PA-12 and HI-01 next month to give us a better feel for the mood of the electorate post-health care.
Maybe healthcare had a big impact and the people supported it. Why the slanted approach in this article?
I think Republican have to consider how desperate US peoples in this crisis. If Health Care Reform has big impact to get vote, it's mean peoples need 'a real dreams'.
We need to vote these people out of office who don't listen to the public. People who want a free ride (Medical Insurance & Welfare) will never understand the concept of being an American...
I'm sure "trace" (astute tbagger that he is) will send his Social Security check back to the U.S. Communist government and return the socialized military pension he currently receives for his stint in the socialized Navy. Also, he will cancel his Tricare free ride benefits before the fascists come to kill his parents with health care reform.
To Ed:
As we all know, the Democrats are the "feeling" crowd. Why then do ALL of them post offensive garbage such as Ed's?
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