News/Commentary

Here are the key takeaways from the Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Florida elections

May 17, 2023 | | Print Article

This Tuesday was Election Day in many parts of the country, and as the results continue to pour in, it’s important to analyze them to better understand how to move forward.

The biggest bombshell from Tuesday night is an upset in Jacksonville, Florida, where a GOP candidate backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis lost to a Democrat.

“Voters in Jacksonville, Florida, on Tuesday elected Democrat Donna Deegan as the first female mayor in the city’s history. In a shocking upset, Deegan also became the first Democrat to win a Jacksonville mayor’s race in more than 30 years,” according to CBS News.

“Deegan earned 52% of the vote, beating Republican Daniel Davis, according to unofficial results. About 217,000 people voted in the race, for a turnout of 33%,”CBS News reported.

Democrats believe this single race in Jacksonville is a bellwether for the 2024 race, whereas Republicans believe what happened there is a fluke.

But Republicans also lost a mayoral seat in Colorado Springs, where a politically unaffiliated “Nigerian immigrant and businessman with no political experience” defeated a GOP candidate, as reported by The Colorado Sun.

As for Democrats, they mainly had a good night. Over in Pennsylvania, for example, they won one of the most closely watched races of this election cycle.

“Democratic candidate Heather Boyd beat Republican Katie Ford in the special election for a Pennsylvania state House seat outside Philadelphia, allowing them to keep control of the lower chamber,” according to The Hill.

“The race was seen as particularly critical since Democrats feared Republicans would use a potential majority to push through restrictive measures relating to abortion and LGBTQ issues,” The Hill reported.

So-called “progressives” did not fare as well, on the other hand. Indeed, in Philadelphia, a radical “progressive” candidate backed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez lost a Philadelphia mayoral Democrat primary race to an establishment Democrat.

“[Cherelle] Parker defeated a crowded field of candidates vying to replace Democrat Jim Kenney. The candidates included Rebecca Rhynhart, Helen Gym, Allan Domb, Jeff Brown, Amen Brown, James Deleon, Delscia Gray and Warren Bloom,” local station WPVI reported.

“The win was a disappointment to progressives who rallied around Helen Gym, who was backed by Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and New York U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,” according to the station.

Interestingly, The Hill notes that this particular race had been driven primarily by crime, and that Parker had voiced support for implementing “stop-n-frisk” policies — which are usually not backed by Democrats.

Over in Kentucky meanwhile, former President Donald Trump scored a victory over DeSantis, his top rival in the 2024 presidential GOP primary race (though to be clear, the Florida governor hasn’t declared his candidacy quite yet). The victory involved Trump’s endorsed candidate for the Kentucky GOP gubernatorial primary, Daniel Cameron, beating DeSantis’ endorsed candidate, former U.N. Ambassador Kelly Craft.

Some on the right are blaming Craft’s loss on DeSantis’ very late endorsement. According to reports, he didn’t endorse her until the very last minute.

“Hello, this is Governor Ron DeSantis coming to you from the free state of Florida. You’ve had a woke, liberal governor who’s put a radical agenda ahead of Kentuckians. The stakes couldn’t be higher. I know what it takes to stand up for what’s right, and Kelly Craft’s got it. She’s proven it,” he said just this Tuesday in a statement shared with Fox News.

“I’m strongly encouraging you to go out and vote for my friend, Kelly Craft. Kelly shares the same vision we do in Florida. She will stand up to the left as they try to indoctrinate our children with their woke ideology. Kelly will fight against crazy ESG policies that are trying to end the coal industry in Kentucky. And Kelly’s going to do everything in her power to end the fentanyl crisis that is hurting Kentucky families,” he added.

Vivek Saxena
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