Florida Democrats chose to award President Joe Biden the state’s delegates in November instead of holding a presidential primary vote, presumably to protect the unpopular incumbent. But it appears the move backfired and led to a wipeout of Democrats in local races.
Florida Democrat Party leaders awarded Biden the state’s 224 delegates months ago and cancelled the primary, in a move Biden’s Democrat challengers called “intentional disenfranchisement” and said was “done obviously in secret, obviously to help the incumbent Joe Biden.” The lack of a statewide Democrat primary meant registered Democrats had less reason to turn out on Tuesday than Republicans, who decisively voted for former President Donald Trump in Tuesday’s Republican primary.
Based on the several key wins by Republicans, Democratic turnout appears to have been hampered by the party’s decision. Republicans and Republican-supported candidates managed to flip several seats in their favor.
Republican-backed Bruce Rector won Clearwater’s nonpartisan race for mayor, while Michael Mannino flipped City Council Seat 3 and Ryan Cotton flipped Seat 2 — defeating incumbent Democrat Mark Bunker who was endorsed by the Florida Democratic Party. Biden narrowly won Pinellas County in 2020.
The Tampa Bay Times attributed the wins to “significant conservative turnout.”
In Orange County, Shane Taylor won the Oakland mayoral race, beating Town Commissioner Salvador Ramos. “Taylor had run as a strong conservative,” noted Florida Politics’ Jacob Ogles.
Nick Nesta, a Republican, won another term as Apopka City Commissioner while Nadia Anderson flipped a Democrat-held seat.
In Delray Beach,
