Win Doesn’t Mean As Much As Democrats Hope
BY BUDDY NEVINS
Florida Democrats are dizzy with joy today. They finally won a big race.
But does Donna Deegan’s victory in the race for Jacksonville mayor really portend good times for Democrats?
Maybe. If Democrats can find more D’s with a great, great deal of local name recognition.
Deegan is a Jacksonville native.
Deegan was an anchor on Jacksonville’s WTLV television for 25 years.
Deegan fought a widely publicized battle against breast cancer.
Donna Deegan
Deegan founded a much-admired foundation to provide financial assistance to families of those fighting the disease.
And perhaps as important as her resume, Deegan kept focused on local issues:
- Building more affordable housing and more infrastructure, especially in neglected neighborhoods.
- Developing a “vibrant” downtown, helped by streamlining permitting.
- Appointing a chief health officer who can coordinate with private medical providers to boost city residents’ health.
Her website skirts issues that dominate so much of Democratic politics. Issues that turn off some swing voters.
Nothing on Trump. Nothing on trans rights. Nothing on immigration. Nothing on Black Lives Matter.
Just local. Local. Local.
Deegan’s win is against a backdrop of the news this week that Republicans continue to widen their edge over Democrats in Florida.
The GOP now has a nearly 473,000-voter lead over Democrats in voter registration, according to figures released this week.
Democrats held the registration lead in Florida until 2021. In the November 2022 election, Republicans had roughly a 306,000 registration advantage.
As of the end of April, there are 5,307,574 Republicans, 4,834,794 Democrats and 4,031,983 without party affiliation. There are also 274,894 registered with third parties, according to the state.
Democrats historically held a registration edge, but Republicans overtook them in 2021.
All that depressing registration news for Democrats isn’t stopping former County Commissioner Barbara Sharief from fast tracking her Democratic campaign for state Senate.
Yet Sharief’s fund raiser in downtown Fort Lauderdale this week points out the problem Democrats have, even in the Democratic stronghold of Broward County.
The host committee for the fund raiser stretches back to an era when Democrats mattered in Tallahassee. Some of these people have been around Democratic politics since the 1970s. These people are now in their 70s.…or maybe older.
Old. Old. Old.
Not enough new blood.
Sharief is the only candidate in the race now. She could win. What does she really win?
A seat in a Legislature that is overwhelmingly Republican, which means overwhelmingly against almost anything Sharief says she stands for. There are easier ways to be depressed.
So while Sharief is knocking her head against the Red Wall in Tallahassee, newly-minted Jacksonville Mayor Deegan will be moving forward. Because there is no Democratic or Republican way to fill potholes.
Ashley Walker, a Fort Lauderdale political consultant who helped on Deegan’s campaign, explained the Democrats’ plight this way in the New York Times:
“Democrats in Florida have to eat the elephant piece by piece,” Walker told the New York Times.
Despite Walker’s prediction, Democrats will find it hard to repeat Deegan’s victory in bright red Florida.
Democrats will find out what every rural Florida farmer already knows.
Donkeys can’t easily eat elephants. Donkeys are vegetarians.
May 18th, 2023 at 3:16 pm
More Hispanics are moving in from Miami and other places and most of them are reliably Republican. Even the Caribbeans have a large number of Republicans. You heard it here first. More offices will be Republican in the future.
May 19th, 2023 at 7:37 pm
Buddy, my house in Ft L that needed maybe 10 k + in new utilities sold for 130 k in March 2020. It has some new windows n doors added to upgrade with new central air and all trees n bushes pulled out n replaced with coloured stones n small flowers in front. Ok maybe in 2020 $130k plus s30k to $50k at the highest end, say $180 000 max Jan 2021
Today an offer for $415 000 WOULD NOT BUY IT because as a rental the income justifies it as an investment! SO WHAT YOUNG PROFESSIONALS ARE GOING TO VOTE FOR HIGHER TAXES, LARGER GOVERNMENT SERVICES OR BLACK OR GAY RIGHTS? OR EVEN VOTE? The Liberal Jewish n Gay Democrats who never resisted Jeb Bush onwards pushing only LUXURY development let n abetted Florida becoming a rightwing Republican State. Here in poor majority Black Macon the White Republican dominated government BUILDS MORE AFFORDABLE HOUSING THAN RICH UP THE TOCKUS FT L.You are RIGHT THE DEMS ARE LIVING IN THE POLITCAL 70s of THE LAST CENTURY
May 23rd, 2023 at 10:49 am
It also seems that Ron DeSantis other than endorsing the Republican candidate, did not actively campaign or throw his weight behind the race. Wonder if it would have made a difference is he did, especially since he served in Congress near that area.