After tough election loss, Florida Democrats regroup and look ahead

WASHINGTON – It was supposed to be a week of celebration for Florida Democrats who expected to deliver the presidency to Hillary Clinton and, if things went exceedingly well, topple Republican Sen. Marco Rubio.

Instead, party leaders and activists were left forlornly looking ahead to key elections in 2018 (U.S. senator, governor, the state legislature) and another crack at the White House in 2020.

That pivot began Friday with the announcement by Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Allison Tant that she would not seek re-election in January.

“I will use the remainder of my term to ensure that the next chair is able to hit the ground running on day one with as smooth of a transition as possible,” she wrote in a letter to Democratic Executive Committee.

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Democrats in the nation’s most important swing state have a lot to chew over.

Trump won the state by nearly 120,000 votes Tuesday and Clinton won only nine of Florida’s 67 counties: Alachua, Broward, Gadsden, Hillsborough, Leon, Miami-Dade, Orange Osceola and Palm Beach. And Rubio coasted to a second term over Democratic congressman Patrick Murphy.

The first task at hand is reclaiming the governor’s mansion in 2018, which Democrats haven’t won since Lawton Chiles captured it in 1994.

Several names have been mentioned, including U.S. Rep Gwen Graham, D-Tallahassee, Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, and Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn. Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam is considered the early GOP frontrunner though incoming Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran has also hinted at a run for governor.

Equally important for Democrats is protecting Bill Nelson’s Senate seat.

“One of only three senators representing the South (along with Clinton running mate Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, both of Virginia), Nelson remains the only statewide elected Democrat in Florida. He’s likely to face stiff competition from GOP Gov. Rick Scott.”

In addition, all 120 seats will be up in the state House as well as some state Senate seats due to recently redrawn districts.

Then, of course, the presidential election looms four years from now.

Florida Democrats say they must connect better with working class voters whose angst about the economy helped propel Trump to victory.

“We have to let them know that they’re included in our vision for the future,” said Gillum, who was considered as Clinton’s running mate. “We should let people know we’re in tune and that we have plans to make their lives a little easier, rather than the impression that we’re aloof and disconnected.”

It didn’t help that the Clinton campaign brought in out-of-state consultants who didn’t know the local terrain, said Al Lawson, a Tallahassee Democrat who won a congressional seat Tuesday.

“I’ve seen people from all over the place – California, New York – and we have all these people here who are just as good but they’re not hired,” Lawson said. “And those (local) people resent that.”

Some activists expressed frustration that the state party under Tant often ignored areas of the state that were not Democratic strongholds.

Jeffrey Kushner, former Democratic chairman in staunchly Republican Lee County, said a little more money would make a difference. Southwest Florida is not turning Democratic any time soon but having more resources would help blunt the region’s GOP advantage and aid statewide Democratic candidates.

Trump won Lee County 59-38% over Clinton. In 2012, Romney’s margin of victory was four percentage points smaller – 58-41% – which allowed Obama to win Florida in whisker-thin fashion by dominating in bluer parts of the state.

“Right after an election like this where we got trounced, you’re going to see a lot of Democrats abandon the local party for a while and that’s going to make it even more difficult at the local level for Democrats to pay the rent, have functions, discuss issues, things like that,” Kushner said. “If the state party would help out a little, it would make it easier. You could get working on the grassroots again which is what’s going to have to happen.”

One of the few wins for Florida Democrats on Election Day was the congressional campaign for former Gov. Charlie Crist, who ousted GOP incumbent David Jolly in the St. Petersburg area.

Crist’s top campaign adviser, Tallahassee-based strategist Kevin Cate, said the wave of sentiment that helped launch Trump’s victory could be followed by a competing wave in 2018. He pointed to 2008 when Obama’s presidential win was followed two years later by the Tea Party movement that helped elect Republican newcomers in Florida like Scott.

Like Gillum, Cate said Clinton’s loss is a chance to learn why America’s frustrated middle class was not listening.

“We weren’t speaking the same language as a lot of middle class white working families,” Cate said. “This is an opportunity to get out in the real world and hear why people are angry.”

Democrats will also need to reassess how they communicate with voters. Trump grabbed attention of voters and news cycles through social media sites like Twitter, he said.

“Basically the entire campaign was dictated by whatever came out of the megaphone that is Donald Trump’s mouth,” Cate said. “While everyone else was having quiet conversations, there was a guy standing in the corner of a room who was driving the message.”