Tuesday, the special election for Congress in Florida’s 13th district was won by the Republicans. What does it mean?
Here is the main reason why the Republican candidate should be elected: There were more Republicans than Democrats who went to vote. About 183,000 people went to the polls, and the Republican won by about 3,400 votes. In 2012, 58.5% of people voted in precincts where Romney won, and 48.5% voted in precincts where Obama won. This election had 158,500 fewer voters than the 2012 presidential election and 49,000 fewer voters than the general midterm election in 2010. (down 46 percent). So the Democrats lost because they couldn’t get enough people to vote for them.
The obvious conclusion is that the Democratic candidate didn’t give enough reasons and motivation for Democratic voters to go to the polls and vote for him or her. If only 3,400 more Democrats had gone to the polls, the outcome of the election would have been different.
Things that matter and things that don’t
Obamacare? Maybe not. David Weigel of Slate says, “Both candidates rejected the national “story” that the election was a clear vote on Obamacare.”
There was no charge. Outside groups helped the Democrat, which made up for the fact that the Republicans usually spend a lot more than the Democrats.
Medicare did matter. Republicans said that “Cutting $716 from Medicare” was what Democrats were doing. The same idea helped the GOP win in 2010, and it helped them win again.