From the AP, word of a state lege seat pickup in a Florida special election:
Democrat Darren Soto narrowly defeated Republican Tony Suarez on Tuesday by just 285 votes for an open House seat in central Florida.Soto, an attorney, won the Orange and Osceola County seat with 51.9 percent of the votes, according to unofficial election results from the state. He beat Suarez, who received 48.1 percent of the votes.
This adds to the six state House seats Democrats picked up in the November election.
“The election of Darren Soto bodes extremely well for the future of the Democratic Party in Florida,” Florida Democratic Party Chair Karen Thurman said. “In the pivotal I-4 (Interstate-4) corridor, the Party’s strong ground operation delivered a majority of voters who chose a Democrat because they want government to focus on positive change for the people.”
Soto replaces Rep. John Quinones, a Republican who quit to run for a new seat on the Osceola County Commission.
Nice work, Florida Dems. Hopefully the sign of more good things to come.