Dems pick up FL state house seat vacated by racist GOP Perve

[socaldem]

Democrats picked up a state house district in a Brevard County, Florida, special election today.

http://election.dos.state.fl.us/elections/resultsarchive/enight.asp

This was the House seat of disgraced GOP state rep. Bob Allen who famously was arrested for propositioning to give a blow job to an undercover police officer in a Florida restroom. 

He later tried to explain the incident, explaining that he only made the offer to service the cop because he was scared because the cop was black.

[Brittain33]

From what I read on Daily Kos (stop throwing tomatoes, these were links to local papers) this was a lean Republican seat contested by a highly competent Democrat and a Republican who had money but no grasp of issues. I don't know if Allen's behavior cost his successor the seat, after all Floridians seemed pretty good at distinguishing Mark Foley from Joe Negron even when Foley's name was on the ballot.

Florida and Arizona legislative politics may be interesting for the next few years... we have two states that became exclusively Republican outside of ethnic or racial minority districts in the 1990s, and which prospered on high growth and construction which kept employment high and taxes low. The growth has stalled in both places and they're facing big budget problems, and some of the most Republican areas are falling apart from foreclosures. We'll have to see if this breaks people's ties to the Republican Party in the newest neighborhoods or not. I'm under no illusions that electing a Democratic state rep. is going to save property values or lower insurance rates in Cape Coral or Queen Creek.

[Brittain33]

This article said the Democrat ran as a moderate and benefited from a Christian conservative third-party candidate.

http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080227/NEWS01/802270349

[socaldem]

From what I read on Daily Kos (stop throwing tomatoes, these were links to local papers) this was a lean Republican seat contested by a highly competent Democrat and a Republican who had money but no grasp of issues. I don't know if Allen's behavior cost his successor the seat, after all Floridians seemed pretty good at distinguishing Mark Foley from Joe Negron even when Foley's name was on the ballot.

Florida and Arizona legislative politics may be interesting for the next few years... we have two states that became exclusively Republican outside of ethnic or racial minority districts in the 1990s, and which prospered on high growth and construction which kept employment high and taxes low. The growth has stalled in both places and they're facing big budget problems, and some of the most Republican areas are falling apart from foreclosures. We'll have to see if this breaks people's ties to the Republican Party in the newest neighborhoods or not. I'm under no illusions that electing a Democratic state rep. is going to save property values or lower insurance rates in Cape Coral or Queen Creek.

My hope is that the state house win is a premonition that Democrats are in good shape to contest the Brevard County-based open house seat of Rep. Curt Weldon.

The district only leans GOP.  Dems apparently have recruited ex-County Comissioner Nancy Higgs but her website is not up and running and she's definitely a second tier recruit, but perhaps she will be able to pull it off...

[Sam Spade]

From what I read on Daily Kos (stop throwing tomatoes, these were links to local papers) this was a lean Republican seat contested by a highly competent Democrat and a Republican who had money but no grasp of issues. I don't know if Allen's behavior cost his successor the seat, after all Floridians seemed pretty good at distinguishing Mark Foley from Joe Negron even when Foley's name was on the ballot.

Florida and Arizona legislative politics may be interesting for the next few years... we have two states that became exclusively Republican outside of ethnic or racial minority districts in the 1990s, and which prospered on high growth and construction which kept employment high and taxes low. The growth has stalled in both places and they're facing big budget problems, and some of the most Republican areas are falling apart from foreclosures. We'll have to see if this breaks people's ties to the Republican Party in the newest neighborhoods or not. I'm under no illusions that electing a Democratic state rep. is going to save property values or lower insurance rates in Cape Coral or Queen Creek.

My hope is that the state house win is a premonition that Democrats are in good shape to contest the Brevard County-based open house seat of Rep. Curt Weldon.

The district only leans GOP.  Dems apparently have recruited ex-County Comissioner Nancy Higgs but her website is not up and running and she's definitely a second tier recruit, but perhaps she will be able to pull it off...

Nancy Higgs ain't running for the seat.  I posted this a couple of weeks ago on the other board.  The only other Dem running is a physician, whose name I forget.  The GOP appears to have solidified around the State Senator in that area of Florida, whose name I also forget.

[Keystone Phil]

My hope is that the state house win is a premonition that Democrats are in good shape to contest the Brevard County-based open house seat of Rep. Curt Weldon.

Dave Weldon

[Mr.Phips]

From what I read on Daily Kos (stop throwing tomatoes, these were links to local papers) this was a lean Republican seat contested by a highly competent Democrat and a Republican who had money but no grasp of issues. I don't know if Allen's behavior cost his successor the seat, after all Floridians seemed pretty good at distinguishing Mark Foley from Joe Negron even when Foley's name was on the ballot.

Florida and Arizona legislative politics may be interesting for the next few years... we have two states that became exclusively Republican outside of ethnic or racial minority districts in the 1990s, and which prospered on high growth and construction which kept employment high and taxes low. The growth has stalled in both places and they're facing big budget problems, and some of the most Republican areas are falling apart from foreclosures. We'll have to see if this breaks people's ties to the Republican Party in the newest neighborhoods or not. I'm under no illusions that electing a Democratic state rep. is going to save property values or lower insurance rates in Cape Coral or Queen Creek.

My hope is that the state house win is a premonition that Democrats are in good shape to contest the Brevard County-based open house seat of Rep. Curt Weldon.

The district only leans GOP.  Dems apparently have recruited ex-County Comissioner Nancy Higgs but her website is not up and running and she's definitely a second tier recruit, but perhaps she will be able to pull it off...

Nancy Higgs ain't running for the seat.  I posted this a couple of weeks ago on the other board.  The only other Dem running is a physician, whose name I forget.  The GOP appears to have solidified around the State Senator in that area of Florida, whose name I also forget.

Dems would be very stupid not to try to win FL-15 as an open seat.  This was the seat that Bill Nelson held from 1978 to 1990 and it will elect a Democrat if the Republican is seen as too Conservative. 

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

From what I read on Daily Kos (stop throwing tomatoes, these were links to local papers) this was a lean Republican seat contested by a highly competent Democrat and a Republican who had money but no grasp of issues. I don't know if Allen's behavior cost his successor the seat, after all Floridians seemed pretty good at distinguishing Mark Foley from Joe Negron even when Foley's name was on the ballot.

Florida and Arizona legislative politics may be interesting for the next few years... we have two states that became exclusively Republican outside of ethnic or racial minority districts in the 1990s, and which prospered on high growth and construction which kept employment high and taxes low. The growth has stalled in both places and they're facing big budget problems, and some of the most Republican areas are falling apart from foreclosures. We'll have to see if this breaks people's ties to the Republican Party in the newest neighborhoods or not. I'm under no illusions that electing a Democratic state rep. is going to save property values or lower insurance rates in Cape Coral or Queen Creek.

My hope is that the state house win is a premonition that Democrats are in good shape to contest the Brevard County-based open house seat of Rep. Curt Weldon.

The district only leans GOP.  Dems apparently have recruited ex-County Comissioner Nancy Higgs but her website is not up and running and she's definitely a second tier recruit, but perhaps she will be able to pull it off...

Nancy Higgs ain't running for the seat.  I posted this a couple of weeks ago on the other board.  The only other Dem running is a physician, whose name I forget.  The GOP appears to have solidified around the State Senator in that area of Florida, whose name I also forget.

Dems would be very stupid not to try to win FL-15 as an open seat.  This was the seat that Bill Nelson held from 1978 to 1990 and it will elect a Democrat if the Republican is seen as too Conservative. 

Too conservative unlike Dave Weldon? You can't get much more conservative than Weldon.

[Democratic Hawk]

[Mr.Phips]

From what I read on Daily Kos (stop throwing tomatoes, these were links to local papers) this was a lean Republican seat contested by a highly competent Democrat and a Republican who had money but no grasp of issues. I don't know if Allen's behavior cost his successor the seat, after all Floridians seemed pretty good at distinguishing Mark Foley from Joe Negron even when Foley's name was on the ballot.

Florida and Arizona legislative politics may be interesting for the next few years... we have two states that became exclusively Republican outside of ethnic or racial minority districts in the 1990s, and which prospered on high growth and construction which kept employment high and taxes low. The growth has stalled in both places and they're facing big budget problems, and some of the most Republican areas are falling apart from foreclosures. We'll have to see if this breaks people's ties to the Republican Party in the newest neighborhoods or not. I'm under no illusions that electing a Democratic state rep. is going to save property values or lower insurance rates in Cape Coral or Queen Creek.

My hope is that the state house win is a premonition that Democrats are in good shape to contest the Brevard County-based open house seat of Rep. Curt Weldon.

The district only leans GOP.  Dems apparently have recruited ex-County Comissioner Nancy Higgs but her website is not up and running and she's definitely a second tier recruit, but perhaps she will be able to pull it off...

Nancy Higgs ain't running for the seat.  I posted this a couple of weeks ago on the other board.  The only other Dem running is a physician, whose name I forget.  The GOP appears to have solidified around the State Senator in that area of Florida, whose name I also forget.

Dems would be very stupid not to try to win FL-15 as an open seat.  This was the seat that Bill Nelson held from 1978 to 1990 and it will elect a Democrat if the Republican is seen as too Conservative. 

Too conservative unlike Dave Weldon? You can't get much more conservative than Weldon.

In any year other than 1994 or maybe 2002, Davie Weldon would have lost an open seat race in FL-15 against a moderate Democrat.