Grab the popcorn for the soap-opera civil wars of both parties in Florida
Florida, you might have heard, is no longer purple: Since Ron DeSantis became governor, Republicans have gained nearly 2 million registered voters over Democrats in the Sunshine State.
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It is an astonishing change in partisanship for the state that famously decided the 2000 presidential election by 537 votes.
The outcome of the statewide races in Florida this November, such as those for governor and US senator, are therefore not in much doubt.
Democrats might dream about making Florida competitive again, but they might as well believe in the tooth fairy.
But if Florida isn’t much in play between the two parties, it’s definitely in play within them.
As last week’s primaries indicate, the Sunshine State is the new ground zero for the roiling internal civil wars that have dominated both parties for years.
On the Democratic side, the results were a mixed bag.
Centrist Rep. Jared Moskowitz easily fended off a much-publicized challenge from a young candidate backed by the Democratic Socialists of America, and longtime establishment leader Debbie Wasserman Schultz also easily won her House primary race after switching districts due to recent redistricting.
Things were more interesting at the statewide level, as David Jolly, the former Republican congressman, won the Democratic gubernatorial nomination after switching parties.
In an election night interview on MS NOW, Jolly explicitly rejected the DSA.
“I reject socialism,” he said. “I’m a capitalist.”
Um, have you noticed who you’ll be running alongside for statewide office, David?
That would be Angie Nixon, the obscure state rep who overcame a 16-to-1 fundraising disadvantage to defeat establishment pick Alex Vindman, the anti-Trump “resistance” hero, in the race for a US Senate seat.
Nixon, who was arrested this year for trespassing and resisting an officer (she called it a “protest”), is a DSA member who peddles all the radical group’s favorite tropes.
Talk about a tense family dynamic for Florida Democrats.
And it’s not just Jolly.
A triumphant Moskowitz told Politico after his primary victory that DSA members are “anti-American at their core” and shouldn’t get security clearances.
In a twist on DeSantis’ catchphrase — “Florida is where woke goes to die” — Moskowitz boasted, “Florida is where DSA goes to die.”
Well, that’s awkward.
The Democratic Party’s civil war is unfolding in real time in Florida, and what a soap opera it already is.
Will Jolly and Nixon campaign together? If so, what would that economic messaging look like?
Will the pro-Israel Moskowitz and the rabidly anti-Israel Nixon continue to snipe at one another?
Will Wasserman Schultz, the former Democratic National Committee chair, be forced to pick a side?
The stakes are highest for the DSA.
If Nixon loses in a landslide, and if the execrable Abdul El-Sayed goes down in flames in swingy Michigan, the DSA could be forced to retreat from the national scene to all but the bluest of blue areas.
Many establishment Democrats are hoping for just that.
The rumor mill here in Florida is buzzing with talk of moderate, pro-Israel Democratic bundlers raising money for Republican Sen. Ashley Moody in her race against Nixon, and the same dynamic is already playing out in Michigan.
Get your popcorn ready!
On the Republican side, the story from Tuesday was more straightforward.
Rep. Byron Donalds cruised to the gubernatorial nomination as expected — and James Fishback, the hyper-online young investor running on an at-times overtly racist platform, finished a very distant third.
The sordid Fishback was endorsed by Tucker Carlson and many of the antisemites of “Podcastistan,” but that didn’t amount to much when the votes were cast.
The internet, it turns out, really isn’t real life.
In Florida’s 6th Congressional District, Jewish Republican Rep. Randy Fine fended off a challenge from Dan Bilzerian, the former poker player and online influencer who ran perhaps the single most evil political campaign in modern American history.
Bilzerian explicitly said he sought to defeat Fine because he was Jewish, and his closing campaign ad urged Floridians to “revisit” Hitler.
Fine defeated Bilzerian by nearly 40 points.
The ethically challenged GOP incumbent Cory Mills lost badly in Florida’s 7th Congressional District, too.
Turns out Florida Republicans have a functioning moral compass.
On the right, the online trolls of the “woke reich” lost badly — a great sign for the Republican future.
On the left, the civil war sits at a stalemate.
Republicans might want to see the crazies of the DSA stick around longer.
But all patriots who truly put America first should want the DSA banished for good.
Josh Hammer is Newsweek senior editor-at-large and host of “The Josh Hammer Show.”
