Republican turnout surging in traditionally blue Miami-Dade County, and for the first time Democrats have a strong chance of winning the statewide races and electing a majority-female legislature
If the Democratic party wants to take back the White House and the Congress, they’re going to have to do it by building on the momentum created by their massive win in the congressional races.
A record 5.2 million voters showed up in Miami-Dade County for Tuesday’s election, far outpacing turnout in all of 2016. At 4.3 percent, the white turnout was slightly lower than in 2008. But the black turnout was the strongest in history, with 83 percent of eligible voters casting a ballot, according to the Miami Herald.
And the turnout among college-educated people — one of the largest voting blocs, according to the Herald — was over 80 percent, far higher than the turnout in the previous two presidential elections.
“It’s going to take the whole team — political, social and economic — to turn this around,” said Greg Ibach, a former president of the board of education and now professor at University of Miami’s Bayside campus.
The surge in turnout could be a blessing — if it weren’t for the state’s electoral map, which has put Democrats at a disadvantage.
The map is a political disaster for Democrats — and a gift for GOP candidates who have promised to protect incumbent Republicans even if they lose.
The Democratic Party has won just 10 of the last 29 statewide elections, despite having only a slight lead in the latest survey. And on the Senate race, they’re in a death spiral.
With more than half the state in presidential districts, the party can only rely on winning the statewide races, which is why, for the first time in history, the party will have to win more than 50 percent to take control of the legislature.
But a win in Congress is just as important, and Democrats are already on the verge of doing that.