Democrats should try to win in Florida - Matt Yglesias

[In It to Win It]

https://www.slowboring.com/p/democrats-should-try-to-win-in-florida

In 2024, Donald Trump beat Kamala Harris 56.03 to 42.37 in Texas. Democrats in the state are currently engaged in a contested Senate primary between James Talarico and Jasmine Crockett — a race that until recently also featured Colin Allred, until he was squeezed out by Crockett’s entry.

In Florida, meanwhile, Trump beat Harris 55.87 to 42.82, a large margin that underscores the challenges any Democrat would face in a statewide contest there.

But the Florida margin is clearly smaller than the Texas margin, so on its face Florida should be a more promising pickup opportunity. And yet in the Florida Senate race, Democrats thus far have absolutely nothing. Not only has no one entered the race, the party has no real prospects. Top people keep assuring me that they’re close to sealing the deal with strong candidates in Alaska and Kansas, but even real optimists don’t claim to have anyone lined up to run in Florida.

This is a big mistake.

I don’t want to peddle some kind of unreasonable level of Sunshine State optimism since, yes, obviously the Republicans will probably win this race.

But the same is true of Alaska and Kansas and Texas and Iowa and Ohio, all of which are uphill, underdog races.

This, from @mattyglesias.bsky.social, is very obviously correct. Not running a serious candidate in FL-Sen would be malpractice. www.slowboring.com/p/democrats-...

— Josh Chafetz (@joshchafetz.bsky.social) 2025-12-18T11:22:58.013Z

[mcar]

1. This Floridian agrees

The party needs to recruit a solid Democrat to run for Senate.

[Lochloosa]

2. I am hopeful Nikki Fried is on this.

It would be a big mistake not to run a qualified canidate.

We just elected a Democrat as the mayor of Miami. If that's not a wakeup call, I don’t know what is.

[Jose Garcia]

3. The only reason that TX is in play is the very real possibility of

Ken Paxton being the GOP nominee. He's pretty far-right even for Texas, he has had a lot of legal troubles, and is going through an embarrassingly messy divorce. This should be a competative race if Paxton wins the primary and Democrats don't nominate someone too far-left.

In Florida, Ashley Moody will almost certainly be the Republican nominee. She has been elected twice as the state's Attorney General before being appointed to the Senate. The fact that no viable Democrat has announced a candidacy speaks volumes as to Moody's chances of winning.

[In It to Win It]

4. I think Ashley Moody is just as far-right as Ken Paxton

As Florida AG, she joined a lot of the stupid shit and BS lawsuits that Ken Paxton initiated.

She was less visible than Ken Paxton. Ken Paxton often took the lead publicly.

[Jose Garcia]

5. Paxton has a much longer tenure as AG and a legislator

He is going to have a much longer paper trail

[In It to Win It]

7. I don't disagree. Ken Paxton has more public baggage for sure.

[newdeal2]

6. This is maddening

Dems need to figure out a way to start winning races in TX and FL. These states are getting bigger (while blue states shrink) with more power and we are completely shut out. We will not be able to win the presidency or congress if we don’t figure this out soon.

[DFW]

8. So many seem to have forgotten an important aspect of Howard Dean's 50 State Strategy

IT WORKED!!

[flamingdem]

9. David Jolly is running

I like him but not sure if he's getting traction?

[carpetbagger]

10. He's running for governor. Nt

[QueerDuck]

11. Absolutely! Yes... that makes so much more sense than primarying our own. Go after the GOP instead...

and flip seats, flip states, flip the senate, flip the house, flip every state senator/rep and put a Democrat in every governor's mansion. It would serve our interest better to no obsess over ideological perfection, and instead focus like a laser on getting rid of every Republican possible and replacing them with a Democrat.