Florida Democrat Tom Keen flips House seat in special election

Politics & Elections
1

I didn’t see a reference to this anywhere. Apparently the meaningless Iowa caucuses drowned out an incredibly meaningful race in Central Florida.

Keen had lost in the Democratic primary in 2022 but won against two rivals to run this year and then won over a former member of the Osceola County School Board. The seat had been easily won by Fred Hawkins in 2022, who resigned last June to be a college president.

Every seat is critical in this House. I don’t think Keen’s victory indicates that Democrats can take Florida in the November elections as the partisan article does yet it’s evidence that blue sections of the state exist.

2

With Trump at the head of their ticket, I look forward to more Republican losses. I think that’s what happened with the last couple of elections.

3

Just to clarify, this is a state House seat in a state legislature where, IIRC, the Republicans still have a supermajority, even with the flip. As a bellwether, it’s good news, but it’s not a super-consequential election in itself.

4

Indeed, even after this election, Florida Republicans have an 84-36 seat advantage in the Florida House. I really wouldn’t take a special election for a state house seat to be any kind of indicator.

5

I think the Dobbs decision is another big factor. It showed a lot of Republican women that they are considered to be second-class citizens by the men who run the party.

6

My mistake. I caught a reference to it as a crucial House seat and jumped to a conclusion.

Still nice to read about, but not crucial.