Just about everywhere, there is continued talk of growing Republican popularity. But one election, and in a very dense GOP area, proves that may not be so.
According to most in The Sunshine State, including those such as Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, Florida has become quite the GOP safe haven. Thanks to decidedly conservative policies being put in place and masses of people coming from Democrat-controlled places like New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, that surely seems to be the case.
However, what does it mean when the state’s most densely Republican-populated area chooses a Democratic mayor?
That’s exactly what happened on Tuesday when GOP Jacksonville mayoral candidate Daniel Davis lost to Democrat Donna Deegan.
As The Florida Times-Union reported, Deegan won with a 52 percent lead in the runoff phase of the election, with 168 precincts reporting.
She claims that Republican and independent crossover votes largely provided her victory. According to her, she had many people tell her, “I’ve never voted for a Democrat before. I’m going to vote for you.”
Now, part of that might be because she’s a three-time cancer survivor. I mean, who doesn’t like a good “I survived cancer” story?
But as some suggest, it could be a sign of something a bit bigger, and by bigger, I mean nationwide.
It is noted that Davis, Deegan’s opponent, was endorsed by Governor DeSantis, who is rumored to announce a presidential campaign soon, putting him up against fellow GOP candidate and former President Donald Trump.
While this endorsement undoubtedly brought in quite a few votes for Davis, there is a real possibility that because of the seeming feud between DeSantis and Trump, it also lost him a few votes. As Trump suggested, Davis would have won if he had endorsed him rather than DeSantis. After all, “Rob only won because of me!!!”
But as some DeSantis supporters have said of Jacksonville’s mayoral election, perhaps it wasn’t the fact that DeSantis endorsed him so much that Trump seemed to stick his nose in where it didn’t belong. The claim is that top Trump adviser Susan Wiles and a woman well-known in the Jacksonville political arena did a great deal to bring Davis down.
Others, such as Trending Politics’ Collin Rugg, say this results from the ongoing discord itself, leaving the Republican base too busy “infighting about Trump vs. DeSantis” for any GOP member to win.
After all, Jacksonville isn’t known to be too popular among Democrats. DeSantis won the area by 12 points in his most recent election. Additionally, data shows that more registered Republicans voted in this mayoral election than Democrats.
Then again, as others have suggested, it could just be a Florida thing. As I mentioned above, people are moving to GOP-led states by the thousands, seeking more conservative leadership and policies that lead to things like lower taxes and crime rates.
However, it doesn’t mean that all those coming in, a good portion of them no doubt being Democrats, aren’t going bring a bit of that liberal mindset with them. And then we end with liberal leaders…
Needless to say, it’s not a good look for the Republican Party, and we will have to be very aware of it come 2024.
If DeSantis does run, and the GOP base splits even further, there is a good chance that what happened in Jacksonville will occur on a national level, with both major parties voting for a Democrat to get away from the “infighting.”
Let’s just say we can’t afford another four years of that, especially if that Democrat is Joe Biden.
