It was only one election, to fill an open state House seat in suburban Orlando. But in Tuesday’s special election for House District 35, Democrat Tom Keen scored a significant victory, despite being outspent by an opponent with much higher name recognition in a district that went heavily Republican in 2022.
Keen’s success provided an instant jolt of confidence for Democrats. He flipped a seat in the shadow of Disney World that was last held by a Republican. Democrats will tout their ground efforts to get out the vote, especially with mail ballots and with NPA voters, who belong to neither party, while Republicans may pin blame on the defeated candidate, Erika Booth, an Osceola County School Board member.
This battle between partisan strategies also signals that voters are increasingly tired of campaigns that rely mostly on ideological, disconnected rants and vicious attacks at the expense of real life pocketbook issues that affect real people, such as abortion rights, housing costs and property insurance.
Keen’s victory shows that voters want candidates who talk about those issues and lay out clear plans to get things done. They’re sick of the ads, often funded by shadowy special interests, that try to trick them into believing outrageous lies.
If both parties focus on those lessons, Florida will be a better place. The lessons of this election are already pretty clear.
What voters saw in District 35
Keen was underestimated at every turn, but he worked tirelessly to secure votes by focusing on his plans for Florida’s future and the priorities of voters in a district that straddles Orange and Osceola counties.
He talked about defending abortion rights, controlling skyrocketing insurance rates, about the need to maintain a healthy business environment while preparing to defend Florida against the ravages of climate change. He was responsive to local voters and visible on the campaign trail. Clearly, they liked what they saw in this retired U.S. Navy commander who also had a successful career in aerospace.
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While Keen connected with voters and knocked on thousands of doors, Booth retreated from her school board background as an effective teacher and engaged activist. She ghosted invitations to debates, ignored the local media and ran a campaign focused mostly on jingoistic slogans railing against the “woke agenda,” President Joe Biden and immigration. It had to have been a jarring transition to voters who thought they knew her.
Voters might have also been puzzled by her seeming acquiescence to a series of vicious attack ads against Keen, some of which pretended to be from liberal sources that lied about Keen’s position on the Legislature’s divisive, intolerant “Don’t say gay” law that Gov. Ron DeSantis signed in 2022.
Mystery texts target Democrat Keen in special House election
Focus on Floridians’ needs
More lessons can be drawn from this race. First, there’s no substitute for knocking on doors and contacting voters. The results show the effectiveness of Keen’s ground game.
Another take-away from this race:
Look at the advantage Democrats had over Republicans via mail-in voting in Orange.This is a big part of why some Florida Republicans of today want to end this voting method that was pioneered by Florida Republicans past. (Like Jeb Bush.)
— Scott Maxwell (@Scott_Maxwell) January 17, 2024
Sharing a split screen with a beaming Keen Tuesday in an online press conference, Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried said hundreds of volunteers made 50,000 phone calls over the weekend, and said voters “are no longer buying what Republicans are selling.”
They want to hear solutions for working-class families in search of affordable housing, child care and insurance, and less about drag queens and banned books.
They deserve to see a lot more tax dollars to help people with disabilities, K-12 education and environmental preservation, and a lot less spent on crass political stunts such as flying bewildered asylum seekers across the country and sending state troopers to the Texas border when they’re so badly needed on I-95. Voters and taxpayers should expect leaders to respect their priorities and rights instead of passing laws stripping them of a voice in critical local decisions and restricting their ability to vote conveniently.
Voters also should rightly resent the backstage power plays that caused this unusual January election in the first place. DeSantis created the vacancy by insisting that ex-Rep. Fred Hawkins of St. Cloud desert District 35 voters in favor of a plum, high-paying state job as president of South Florida State College in Avon Park, despite his lack of a Ph.D. or deep experience in higher education.
For now, Keen’s victory is mostly symbolic. Republicans still have overwhelming supermajorities in the state House and Senate. But he struck the right tone, saying he would look out for everyone in the district, “whether you voted for me or not.”
This news comes in a week when DeSantis was trounced by Donald Trump in the Iowa caucuses, losing by 30 points. At the moment, things are looking just a bit brighter for Florida Democrats.
Keen’s victory should encourage more candidates to buck the party playbook and focus on what matters most to Floridians — and to follow through on their promises when they get to Tallahassee. If those lessons are heeded, then all voters can claim victory in House District 35.
The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Opinion Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Opinion Editor Dan Sweeney, editorial writer Martin Dyckman and Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson. Editorials are the opinion of the Board and written by one of its members or a designee. To contact us, email at .
