Thread: Democrat front-runner wins Fla. US House race

Democrat front-runner wins Fla. US House race





BOCA RATON, Fla. – A Democratic state senator on Tuesday handily won the first U.S. House race since Congress passed a massive health care overhaul, beating a decidedly underdog Republican who tried to use the backlash against the measure to pull an upset.



With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Florida state Sen. Ted Deutch had 62 percent of the vote compared to 35 percent for Republican Ed Lynch. No-party candidate Jim McCormick trailed far behind with just 3 percent. The Associated Press called the race just about two hours after the polls closed.



Deutch, an attorney, and Lynch, a contractor, both 44, were vying to replace retiring Democratic U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler.



"I have never before felt the way that I feel at this moment," Deutch said to cheering supporters.



"We've heard for months that tonight ... is a referendum on health care, it's a referendum on the (President Barack Obama) administration, it's a referendum on what direction this country is going," Deutch added. "Let me tell you something, what we learned today is that in Broward County and Palm Beach County, Florida, the Democratic Party is alive and well."



Lynch of West Palm Beach sought to make the race a statement on the health care bill in District 19, which includes parts of both counties. About 40 percent of voters are senior citizens. But he had a tough task. Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than 2-to-1 — 234,000 to about 111,000.



"Obviously, it's not the results that we wanted," Lynch said.



"But it proved that people are willing to get out there and take our country back," he said of his supporters.



Wexler, a self-proclaimed "fire-breathing liberal," left office in January during his seventh congressional term to head a Middle East think tank. He was hugely popular in the district, which voted about 65 percent for Obama in 2008. Wexler, of Boca Raton, had endorsed Deutch.



He will now serve the remaining eight months of Wexler's term, then will have to run in November for his own full term.



Lynch had hoped public disdain for the health care bill and low congressional approval ratings would help him upset Deutch, widely seen as the front-runner. He sought to do what Republican Scott Brown did in Massachusetts when he won the Senate seat held for nearly a half-century by Democrat Edward M. Kennedy.



Lynch lambasted the health care overhaul as a government takeover and the gutting of Medicare, while Deutch told voters it would provide immediate relief.



Lynch had also slammed Obama's stimulus bill as doing little to help the economy and called the president's timetable to withdraw troops from Iraq "moronic."



Deutch said he would have voted for the health care overhaul and the stimulus bill and supports Obama's Iraq strategy.



http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_congre...r_s_seat/print



Looks like the majority of people don't really think Obama is doing such a bad job afterall.

[quote name='Gypsy' date='13 April 2010 - 08:56 PM' timestamp='1271217383' post='139337']

Looks like the majority of people don't really think Obama is doing such a bad job afterall.

[/quote]



You get that from the re-election of an incumbent winning an election he won with 85% of the vote last time?

In late 2009, Deutch announced as a candidate for the Florida's 19th congressional district, the seat formerly held by Robert Wexler who left the Congress for leadership of Center for Middle East Peace and Economic Cooperation. He won the Democratic primary with 85% of the vote, and on April 10, 2010, won a special election, defeating Republican state Rep. Edward J. Lynch.[2]



He currently serves as Vice Chair of the Senate Committee on Regulated Industries and the Policy and Steering Committee on Ways and Means.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Deutch

[quote name='bla bla' date='14 April 2010 - 01:03 AM' timestamp='1271221430' post='139343']

You get that from the re-election of an incumbent winning an election he won with 85% of the vote last time?





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Deutch

[/quote]

I think you are mistaken. Deutch was not an incumbent, he never held the seat before. He only decided to run for it in 2009 when Wexler decided to step down so they had to have a special election. Deutch won the primary with 85% of the vote. Do you know what a primary is?



Deutch was a staunch proponent of what Obama is doing and his healthcare. Lynch was the republican who is staunchly against everything Obama. Deutch kicked his ass in the election. What does that tell you?

[quote name='bla bla' date='14 April 2010 - 01:03 AM' timestamp='1271221430' post='139343']

You get that from the re-election of an incumbent winning an election he won with 85% of the vote last time?





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Deutch

[/quote]



I don't think you read your own quote.

So who's been in the seat since Wexler left?

What are the demographic breakdowns?

Looks like people voted down party lines...Almost exactly minus just a few %. Hardly newsworthy.

A contractor? What other experience did he have?