But Democrats over perform in Trump district
Personal injury attorney and first time candidate Mike Redondo beat perennial candidate and longtime activist Johnny Farias in the special election for Florida House 118 Tuesday, with a squeaky 52% of the vote to keep the seat red. Republican Juan Fernandez-Barquin held the seat until the governor named him Miami-Dade Clerk and Comptroller in June.
Farias got 46% but that’s because 3% was stolen by candidate Frank de la Paz, who says he was not egged into the race to take votes from Farias (though 225 votes would not have made a difference). And it’s a whopping improvement from the 32% he got against Fernandez-Barquin in 2022, going from a 30-some point difference to a single digit gap. He’s gotta be mighty proud.
“It proves that it’s not a fully Republican district like they think it is,” Farias told Political Cortadito late Tuesday. He said Democrats over performed by 10% compared to the last election. “I’m happy the way we ran the campaign.”
Even a tweet from Florida Democratic Chair Nikki Fried wasn’t enough to pull him over.
After the election, Fried and other state Dems were pleased with the performance of blue voters.
“We smell blood in the water,” she posted in the evening. “In 2022, we lost this seat by more than 30 points. This is a R +17 seat. Congrats to @johnnygfarias and his team! This proved that with hard work and the right message, everything is possible.”
And Carlos Guillermo Smith, a former rep running for Florida Senate was downright shaken. “HOLY SHIT!!! A heavily Republican Miami Florida House seat that DeSantis won by +30 just swung towards Dems by +24,” he tweeted.
Still, Tuesday’s dismal turnout was less than 8% of the 113,269 registered voters in the district, which spans from Sweetwater to Cutler Bay. Farias did better in early voting, but Redondo ruled the absentee ballots and held on to a wide enough lead on Election Day.
De la Paz says the timing of the special election was selected intentionally by Gov. Ron DeSatanis to benefit the Republican. Though Ladra can’t imagine that it would have made that much of a difference if the race was on Nov. 7.
Las malas lenguas say Redondo, who says he grew up in the district but just moved back about 6 months ago, was handpicked for the race and will vote with the Party every time.
Read related: Special election in House 118 pits longtime public servant vs first timer
Redondo did not return a call and text to his phone Tuesday evening. But he told Glenna Milberg on This Week in South Florida that he would vote for what’s best for the district. Let’s remember and watch.
He raised $198,829, more than a third coming from political committees, and spent at least $122,319, according to the latest campaign reports through Nov. 30, with $62,687 in in-kind costs paid mostly by the Republican Party. This is without counting any PAC money. All together, it comes to $261,517, which means Redondo’s campaign spent $57.60 per vote.
Farias raised $84,290, but from real people, not PACs. Only $20,364 were in-kind donations, mostly in small amounts from Democrats across the state writing postcards for Johnny. If he spent it all, he spent $26 per vote.
And it is not the last we’ve heard from him. “I’m going to take a break with my family and then back to the drawing board,” Farias told Ladra. “I’m going to keep an eye on everybody.”
In House 118 special election, 1st timer Republican Mike Redondo keeps it red added by Ladra on
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