Shades of Uncle Joe Stalin and Dear Leader Kim Jong-il! Imagine that, only one candidate for president will automatically get all the Sunshine State’s delegates for Democrats in the Florida primary.
Well, the primary that never was. No vote, no choice… nothing.
Never mind that two active Democrat candidates (Rep. Dean Phillips D-MN, author Marianne Williamson) and one ex-candidate (Cenk Uygur of TYT, The Young Turks) have slammed the decision by the leaders of the Democrat Party of Florida. But the party bosses have made a decision only the likes of Mao and Pol Pot could love.
As reported by WFLA.com, “Phillips called the snub ‘intentional disenfranchisement.’ In a news conference, Uygur claimed it was ‘done obviously in secret, obviously to help the incumbent Joe Biden.’”
WFLA also noted, “A lawsuit filed by a Tampa lawyer urged a federal judge to force the Democrats to hold a primary that includes Phillips, Williamson and Uygur on the ballot. In January, the court declined their request for a preliminary injunction.”
So, it looks like Democrats really had no reason to actually show-up to the Super Tuesday vote, even though there were plenty of other races on the ballot.
This kind of turned around to bite the party bosses dead on the ass.
As reported by Brianna Lyman of The Federalist (emphasis mine);
“Florida Democrat Party leaders awarded Biden the state’s 224 delegates months ago and cancelled the primary, in a move Biden’s Democrat challengers called “intentional disenfranchisement” and said was “done obviously in secret, obviously to help the incumbent Joe Biden.” The lack of a statewide Democrat primary meant registered Democrats had less reason to turn out on Tuesday than Republicans, who decisively voted for former President Donald Trump in Tuesday’s Republican primary.”
“Based on the several key wins by Republicans, Democratic turnout appears to have been hampered by the party’s decision. Republicans and Republican-supported candidates managed to flip several seats in their favor.”
“Republican-backed Bruce Rector won Clearwater’s nonpartisan race for mayor, while Michael Mannino flipped City Council Seat 3 and Ryan Cotton flipped Seat 2 — defeating incumbent Democrat Mark Bunker who was endorsed by the Florida Democratic Party. Biden narrowly won Pinellas County in 2020.”
“The Tampa Bay Times attributed the wins to “significant conservative turnout.”
“In Orange County, Shane Taylor won the Oakland mayoral race, beating Town Commissioner Salvador Ramos. “Taylor had run as a strong conservative,” noted Florida Politics’ Jacob Ogles.”
“Nick Nesta, a Republican, won another term as Apopka City Commissioner while Nadia Anderson flipped a Democrat-held seat.”
“In Delray Beach, former mayor and commissioner Tom Carney flipped the mayor seat and beat Shirley Johnson and Ryan Boylston by more than 10 percentage points each. Johnson had “said she [would] strive for diversity, equity and inclusion,” a favorite Democrat talking point. Biden won the district by nearly 30 points in 2020.”
“In Juno Beach, the Florida GOP celebrated Peggy Wheeler defeating incumbent Mayor Alexander Cooke.”
3 victorious GOP Mayors in Palm Beach County: Well done to Wellington Mayor-elect Michael Napoleone, Juno Beach Mayor-elect Peggy Wheeler and newly re-elected Hypoluxo Mayor Michael Brown! #KeepFloridaWinning @PalmBeachGOP pic.twitter.com/SI0LTxQ4fX
— Florida GOP (@FloridaGOP) March 20, 2024