In a race seen as a bellwether for Democratic chances in November, Democrat Tom Keen flipped what had been a Republican state House seat in Central Florida in a special election held Tuesday.
Keen, a Navy flight officer who works in the aerospace training and simulation industry, defeated Republican Erika Booth, a teacher and member of the Osceola School Board. Unofficial totals for the District 35 seat had Keen with 51.3% of the vote to Booth’s 48.7%.
“A huge THANK YOU to all our supporters, volunteers, and voters who believed in our vision for a better, brighter District 35,” Keen wrote on social media. “Your dedication, hard work, and votes have brought us to this incredible moment.”
Keen, who made abortion rights and property insurance key issues in the race, got between 65% to 70% of nonpartisan, or NPA, voters to make up for Republicans turning out in larger numbers than Democrats, said Matt Isbell, a Democratic elections analyst.
That’s the full quote that paints an entirely different picture. And he still won. So wtf are you talking about?
Again, different story than what you’re trying to paint.
if democrats stay home, it makes no difference how many ‘nonpartisan’ voters turn out.
It factually, concretely, made a difference. Republicans showed up in greater numbers because the district contains more Republicans, and they still lost, because nonpartisan voters turned up in sufficient numbers to make a difference. You need to adjust your level of doom.
Wrong. NC, for example, has 2.7 million unaffiliated voters, compared to 2.4 million Democrats and 2.2 million Republicans. Unaffiliated or nonpartisan voter proportions are currently at record highs, compared to very low (and falling) affiliation with either major party. The swing of nonpartisan voters in 2020 was D+9, and they’re thought to have significantly contributed to Democratic victories in 2018, 2020, and 2022.