Florida’s 2014 election cycle ended with disappointment for Democrats and many victories for Republicans.
Florida GOP wins include the gubernatorial race, the Cabinet—particularly the Attorney General’s race—and gaining a supermajority in the Florida House after several Democrats lost some seats.
“Well, obviously we got beat,” said Florida Democratic Party Chair Allison Tant. “We got beat across the nation. We got beat in Florida.”
She says the party is now looking to move forward to do better in future races.
“But, I’m proud of the race we ran,”she added. “I mean, do I want a different outcome. Yes! Do I take a responsibility for this outcome? Of course! I mean, we built a really good machine. We built a really good race car and we’re going to keep it going. We’re going to deep dive into what happened and who didn’t show up to vote and take corrective measures.”
As for Republican Party of Florida Chair Leslie Dougher, she’s celebrating her party’s wins.
“The voters spoke that they wanted to bring in Republican principles and so, they elected Republicans in a lot of races—more than a lot of people anticipated,” said Dougher.
And, she says she’s now looking toward 2016.
“So, as the voters send the message by wanting conservative Republicans in office to manage the business of the entire state, we’re going to continue that for 2016 and make sure we continue the same course of action when we get into the presidential election, you know, electing Republicans where we want to or re-electing them and let the voters decide,” added Dougher.
Of course the GOP did have a few losses, including Democrat Gwen Graham unseating two-term Republican incumbent, Congressman Steve Southerland in the North Florida district.
For more news updates, follow Sascha Cordner on Twitter: @SaschaCordner.
Copyright 2014 WFSU
