Establishment favorite Patrick Murphy won the Democratic nomination for US Senate in Florida and immediately set his sights on incumbent Marco Rubio, who earlier this year went back on a promise not to seek re-election after seeing his presidential hopes go down in flames.
Despite rebellious sentiment fueling progressive campaigns, Murphy’s victory was among several big wins in the Sunshine State party-favored candidates, including recently-resigned Democratic National Committee chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
Murphy, a South Florida Congressman best known for defeating hate-monster Allen West in 2012 , immediately turned his attention on Rubio:
This is just the beginning of our fight. Will you contribute before midnight to keep up our momentum? https://t.co/9QsxDzI0lq #FLSen
— Patrick Murphy (@PatrickMurphyFL) August 31, 2016
For most of the past year, Murphy seemed to be in a close race with liberal firebrand and Orlando Rep. Alan Grayson, who once accused Republicans of offering the health plan of “don’t get sick, and if you, die quickly.” But a series of personal scandals, including accusations by his ex-wife of domestic abuse, erased Grayson’s chances. Murphy ultimately won a five-person primary with 58.91 percent of the vote, to Grayson’s 17.73 percent, not much more than unknown Pam Keith’s 15.39 percent.
Grayson told The Orlando Sentinel he will not endorse the nominee:
“I’m not going to be endorsing Patrick Murphy for sure. He’s a Republican.”
Murphy was endorsed by President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.
Meanwhile, Wasserman Schultz ultimately won her Democratic primary with 57.48 percent of the vote to rival Tim Canova’s 42.52 percent. Canova out-raised Wasserman Schultz, bringing in donations from across the country after picking up an endorsement from former Democratic presidential candidate and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
No matter what happens, we should all be proud of what we’ve accomplished in a short period of time. I couldn’t have done it without you.
— Tim Canova (@Tim_Canova) August 30, 2016
Wasserman Schultz credited her long-standing in the Florida district, which she has served since 1992 when she was elected to the Florida Legislature. She told CBS Miami:
“I had faith that it was the people of our congressional district who should decide who should represent us and not people who don’t live here.”
In other primary news, DCCC pick Val Demings beat progressive favorite Bob Poe in an Orlando congressional race. Long-time incumbent Rep. Corrine Brown, in trouble thanks to court-ordered redistricting, lost her primary to former state senator Al Lawson.
Featured image courtesy of Gage Skidmore on Flickr available via a CC Attribution-ShareAlike license.
