# Florida Republican who lost congressional special election by 59 percentage points won't concede **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 17, 2022, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-republican-who-lost-congressional-special-election-by-59-percentage-points-wont-concede/957948 "2022-01-17T20:00:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-republican-who-lost-congressional-special-election-by-59-percentage-points-wont-concede/957948/1 "2022-01-17T20:00:10Z")
In the Florida 20th, Republican Jason Mariner, who lost 79%-20% in a special congressional election to progressive Democrat Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, has filed a lawsuit and said he won’t concede the election. > **[A Florida Republican who was defeated by 59 percentage points in a...](https://www.businessinsider.com/florida-republican-mariner-wont-concede-cherfilus-mccormick-house-race-landslide-2022-1)** > > With all precincts reporting, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick defeated Jason Mariner by a massive 59.1 percentage points, 78.7% to 19.6%. In case you’re wondering how badly Republicans need to lose before they’ll concede elections, apparently 59 points is not badly enough. This is going to be a thing with them from now on, I can tell. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-republican-who-lost-congressional-special-election-by-59-percentage-points-wont-concede/957948/2 "2022-01-17T20:06:45Z")
> “We’ll also have some stuff coming out that we’ve recently discovered,” Mariner told the TV station without elaborating. Gee, who’s playbook did they get that line from? ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-republican-who-lost-congressional-special-election-by-59-percentage-points-wont-concede/957948/3 "2022-01-17T20:43:10Z")
Of course, conceding is irrelevant to who gets seated. But, yeah, basically he is being a party to the effor to normalize that in any election with the “wrong” result, the loser will seek that the result be forfeited. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-republican-who-lost-congressional-special-election-by-59-percentage-points-wont-concede/957948/4 "2022-01-17T21:03:06Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > This is going to be a thing with them from now on, I can tell. Yeah, and water is wet. If you can convince half the people that only fraud could allow their opponents to win and therefore their term in office is illegitimate and therefore you don’t have to obey their laws, pretty soon their opponents will be frightened off from even running and you’ll live in a one-party country, which is exactly the point. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-republican-who-lost-congressional-special-election-by-59-percentage-points-wont-concede/957948/5 "2022-01-17T21:05:59Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > Republican Jason Mariner, who lost 79%-20% in a special congressional election > [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > If you can convince half the people that only fraud could allow their opponents to win I’m pretty sure this guy will only convince 20% of the people 😃 ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-republican-who-lost-congressional-special-election-by-59-percentage-points-wont-concede/957948/6 "2022-01-17T21:13:35Z")
Nobody tell Mike Lindell ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-republican-who-lost-congressional-special-election-by-59-percentage-points-wont-concede/957948/7 "2022-01-17T21:21:59Z")
Another bit of evidence to put in the column of: “Republicans are the party of the mentally ill” ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-republican-who-lost-congressional-special-election-by-59-percentage-points-wont-concede/957948/8 "2022-01-17T21:28:58Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > Republican Jason Mariner Isn’t that the guy who won the Republican primary despite being a convicted felon? He may be refusing to concede because it would render his case (against the Florida constitution which prohibits ex-felons from running for federal office) moot. I mean, unlikely… but… ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-republican-who-lost-congressional-special-election-by-59-percentage-points-wont-concede/957948/9 "2022-01-17T21:29:08Z")
We need to institute some sort of contractual obligation for people running for office. Something that they sign when they file that says, “I agree to abide by the election results conferred by (x official body). If I win, I will be sworn into office on (date). If I lose, I will publicly concede within 2 calendar days of the declaration of the results. If I choose to dispute the results, or fail to concede defeat, I will be liable for $X (some large sum) to be paid to (government body overseeing the election).” ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-republican-who-lost-congressional-special-election-by-59-percentage-points-wont-concede/957948/10 "2022-01-17T21:32:57Z")
And who’s going to enforce this stuff? ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-republican-who-lost-congressional-special-election-by-59-percentage-points-wont-concede/957948/11 "2022-01-17T21:35:21Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > Democrat Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick And she won her primary by like 5 votes or something crazy thin. That would have been worth contesting. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-republican-who-lost-congressional-special-election-by-59-percentage-points-wont-concede/957948/12 "2022-01-17T21:39:43Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > Isn’t that the guy who won the Republican primary despite being a convicted felon? Yep. > **[This Confederate Flag-Tattoo’d Felon Is Running for Congress](https://www.thedailybeast.com/this-confederate-flag-tattood-felon-jason-mariner-is-running-for-congress)** > > Jason Mariner won the GOP primary for a special election in Florida and has the support of some of the state’s most prominent Republicans. He’s... a character. Including _cocaine possession._ ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-republican-who-lost-congressional-special-election-by-59-percentage-points-wont-concede/957948/13 "2022-01-17T21:41:14Z")
Hey, so long as he didn’t join some board of directors in Ukraine… ~Max ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-republican-who-lost-congressional-special-election-by-59-percentage-points-wont-concede/957948/14 "2022-01-17T21:46:22Z")
The Republicans aren’t exactly sending us their best. > **[Inmate Release Information Detail](http://www.dc.state.fl.us/offenderSearch/detail.aspx?Page=Detail&DCNumber=D21693&TypeSearch=IR)** > > Search interface for Florida Department of Corrections inmate and supervised offender records. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-republican-who-lost-congressional-special-election-by-59-percentage-points-wont-concede/957948/15 "2022-01-17T21:55:50Z")
And it was, by her Democratic contender. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-republican-who-lost-congressional-special-election-by-59-percentage-points-wont-concede/957948/16 "2022-01-17T22:01:41Z")
If republican voters had any sort of introspection or critical thinking, they’d think “huh, my party is trying to sell elections which are clearly legitimate as fraudulent, I wonder if this means that other accusations of fraudulent elections are equally false”, but then, if they had those capabilities, they probably wouldn’t be republican voters at this point, so this will probably do not damage whatsoever. We’re going to have a massive disinformation campaign in 2022 that says “every election we won is legitimate, every election we lost is false” and none of them are going to think “Hmm, that doesn’t sound plausible…” ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-republican-who-lost-congressional-special-election-by-59-percentage-points-wont-concede/957948/17 "2022-01-17T22:05:52Z")
The overwhelming probability is that this guy is bonkers, but I won’t make a definitive statement until I see his specific claims. Broward County is [infamous for ballot trickery](https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/something-looks-weird-in-broward-county-heres-what-we-know-about-a-possible-florida-recount/), and even if it doesn’t change the result you’d want that addressed before the next election as a matter of public interest. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-republican-who-lost-congressional-special-election-by-59-percentage-points-wont-concede/957948/18 "2022-01-17T22:34:55Z")
Uh, I’dunno. I was kinda hopin’ you could jump in and handle it. 😄 ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-republican-who-lost-congressional-special-election-by-59-percentage-points-wont-concede/957948/19 "2022-01-17T23:55:17Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > We’re going to have a massive disinformation campaign in 2022 that says “every election we won is legitimate, every election we lost is false” and none of them are going to think “Hmm, that doesn’t sound plausible…” A lot of Republicans basically view politics like sports. You support your team no matter what. If a ref calls a foul on your team then its a bad call, but if they call a foul on the other team its a good one. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-republican-who-lost-congressional-special-election-by-59-percentage-points-wont-concede/957948/20 "2022-01-18T00:21:25Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > none of them are going to think “Hmm, that doesn’t sound plausible…” At this point, many Republican voters think that Kennedy is going to come back from the dead and turn (R) and save us all from the shape-shifting lizard people. “plausible” left the train station quite some time ago. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-republican-who-lost-congressional-special-election-by-59-percentage-points-wont-concede/957948.md?page=2)