In his concession speech today, Sen. Bill Nelson blamed voter suppression as one of the reasons why he lost:
Bill Nelson in his concession: "We must end all forms of voter suppression, make it easier for Americans to vote, and honor the ideal that we are governed by the majority and not by the minority rule." pic.twitter.com/lxhwg7W7du
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) November 18, 2018
Um, no. From local Miami-based Politico reporter Marc Caputo:
Getting tweets about voter suppression in Florida.
But consider: more registered Republicans voted than Democrats, but registered Ds outnumber Rs by 2%.
Turnout was 63% (if you just consider active registered voters).
So 37% percent of the electorate decided not to vote
— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) November 18, 2018
You go to war with the army you have. Not the army you want.
This midterm, though closer than others, was the same old story for Dems: underperforming voters.
— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) November 18, 2018
Thank you, Reince Priebus?
Losing affords the loser a golden chance: the ability to learn more than by winning.
In 2013, after Obama's reelect, RNC Chair Reince Priebus adopted & honed GOP turnout nationally and it shows in Florida.
Dems have yet to do that soul searching in FL.https://t.co/IfDPYQ6SLe
— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) November 18, 2018
But if we had to point to one thing that cost Nelson the election, it would have to be his dismal support among Latino voters in Florida, which Scott lost by only 9% compared to 40% nationally:
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Nelson was particularly Weekend at Bernie’s about this but the entire FL Dem Party has a baffling problem with the Hispanic vote. https://t.co/BYyZXl7o9q
— Michael Grunwald (@MikeGrunwald) November 19, 2018
Nelson brushed off questions during the campaign that Latino support would be an issue:
Nelson told me in June I had it all wrong re: his struggles w/ Latino voters (https://t.co/QDYC0tvKiy), that Scott never got 50% statewide
I told him Scott doesn't care if he's at 49%, he'll just get you to 48%
(exit polls showed Nelson won Latinos by just 9 pts, far too little
— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) November 18, 2018
Whoops:
This was political malpractice: https://t.co/RNWEbLNXoq
— Graeme Crews (@GraemeCrews) November 18, 2018
And it certainly looks like the polls had it wrong:
In full transparency, Latino Decisions' election eve poll had Nelson (and Gillum) winning the Latino vote in Florida by 61-36.
Not taking sides, but I do think both polls can be right — with the caveat that exits have more real voters https://t.co/1c4GrabdSn
— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) November 19, 2018
These exits sure jibe with Mason-Dixon’s numbers, though https://t.co/PSSOovm5zy
— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) November 19, 2018
***
Related:
FLO-RED-A: The Florida Senate race is FINALLY over with Rick Scott prevailing by over 10,000 votes https://t.co/Sin3Ij5SMt pic.twitter.com/pxi0peMnxx
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) November 18, 2018
Politico: Florida Democratic Party continues to fundraise off of Bill Nelson’s doomed campaign https://t.co/G04pz8SJbG
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) November 17, 2018
'Give it up'! Bill Nelson's lawyer suing Palm Beach County to require hand recount after they blew it with machines https://t.co/oCiYn38UW4
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) November 15, 2018