It's official Val Demings is running for the US Senate!

That's exciting. Not sure if I know all her positions but should shake things up. Plus she's a very viable candidate.

Val already raised a million dollars.

She is a viable candidate, but probably won’t win. Florida still swings Republican and not sure if I see many Hispanics voting for a Black person over one of their own.

Good news for DeSantis however. She won’t be able to challenge him for Governor.

She’s got a great name in Florida. We’ll see how this shakes out. I can tell from Rubio’s tweets that he’s scared shitless

If there's anybody I would like to see ripping Joe Manchin a new one, it's Val Demings!

I think she's awesome... but what do I know?

If she stresses her police background, she should do well here.

I hope she makes Marco cry like a little bitch.

Lil Marco is such a spineless little fool. Go Val👍

Val, honey...kick Rubio's ass. I hate that little Trump ass-licker.

Much classier than lil Marco.

[quote]I’m praying for @ CaseyDeSantis and the DeSantis family. I wish her a speedy recovery during this difficult time.

At this point…the Ds are just fundraising.

(They are not a real political party.)

In what could be a very strong Republican year, & in an increasingly Republican state, I unfortunately don’t see this ending well for her.

Marco is such an empty suit. But odds are that he'll come out on top regardless of Val's strengths.

She should have been VP.

Thanks to friendly media, she will raise millions of dollars, keep half of it, do well in polls, then lose to Lil Marco by 10 points.

Same thing happened last time in South Carolina, Maine, Kentucky, Texas, North Carolina, etc.

She’ll lose.

Yes, R14, she was my choice, too.

She's a good candidate. She probably won't win but part of winning the Senate is running good candidates everywhere, having them build real campaigns, and then being in a position to win if the pendulum swings their way on election day.

In both 2016 and 2020, several Republicans won after they were expected to lose. (Toomey, Collins and Tillis come to mind, DeSantis too). It CAN work the other way.

I think this will be a very close election. I wonder if Demmings can get people excited about coming out to vote for her, that would be fantastic.

[quote]Same thing happened last time in South Carolina, Maine, Kentucky, Texas, North Carolina, etc.

Progressive/ Dems cannot scream "We need a FIFTY STATE APPROACH IN EVERY ELECTION!!!!" then bitch about losing lots of elections. Remember the intense hatred toward Hillary Clinton when it was argued she played in too few states seeking to put the resources where it would work best? You cannot reject both strategies.

Sadly I don't think there is any real chance Rubio will lose. I'd be happy to see people the people of Florida prove me wrong, but to expect the best of Florida....

Related

Little Marco wasn't going to run again because he didn't like being a Senator. He actually said it out loud. The Repubs convinced him to stay and the idiots in Florida voted for a man who didn't want to work for them. If that's the kind of ignorant Deplorables in the state, I wish Val all the luck in the world because she's going to need it.

I don't understand some voters. They vote AGAINST the person who would be best for them, who CARES about getting legislation passed that would be good for them and then they have the gall to complain that government is BROKEN. Of course, it's bloody broken, you fucktards. You keep voting in people who have contempt for you.

I'm sure Lil' Marco misses foam parties, so he would not be sad if he lost.

r24 Wondering at what point in time it was appropriate to just spread weird gossip like a name association game. Im guessing its not the first time today you saw a famous name and quickly repeated the shittiest thing you ever saw on a message board about them.

Luff huh. So tired of DeathSantis and all the Republicant crooks in Floriduh.

8.4 million

I support Val, but there is little chance Rubio will be defeated. Florida is getting redder each day

I've never felt like Marco Rubio particularly enjoys his job. He's a deeply unhappy person, but he will cling to this job and power because it's the only thing he can imagine doing.

How sad for him.

I love Val. She really should have been VP. She's a good candidate, probably won't win, but she will keep foam boy on his toys. I think it's becoming obvious that democrats, pinning hopes on Hispanics to turn some states blue is not happening.

FL's all-powerful Cuban-American voters will never let Marco quit.

Val Demings fundraising haul of 8.4m gives Amy McGrath vibes.

It's gonna be the race that resistlibs pour most money into, but lose (Like KY-Sen 2020). No possible way that Marco Rubio is gonna lose.

She needs a better wig first

Stop

Team Rubio!

Team fascist^^^

r32 Marco Rubio could lose. It's not likely to happen and Florida might be wave resistant (as we saw in 2018). But she starts out with a 10-20% chance of winning.

This is not like Kentucky where you had a much redder state and Mitch McConnell, who could raise $100 million for his campaign, $100 million in dark money, and then reach into a joint bank account with his billionaire wife and throw another $100 mil at the wall if it had been necessary. It wasn't.

I like cute white Cuban like Rubio. Is he uncut?

Florida is hopeless, Democrats better off investing in Texas instead.

Young people move to Texas to work, old people move to Florida to retire. Plus you don't have to contend with Cubans and South Americans who have communist PTSD.

Conservatives are pouring into Florida from the North

Democrats need to understand a few key points:

1) Ohio is gone. 2) Texas isn’t happening anytime soon. 3) Florida is hopeless. 4) Iowa is gone. 5)Therefore, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin are must-wins.

And ethnic minorities ( anyone non-white ) not always a safe liberal voter.

True, and Latinos especially are not prone to campaigns that view them as voting based on their ethnicity. Moreover, many Latinos are culturally conservative and against illegal immigration

This is going to be Sara Gideon all over again.

r44 Sara Gideon was expected to win. A Val Demmings win would be an upset but not an impossibility and will only occur as part of a nationwide trend towards Democrats. It wont need to be a wave election.

Most people have no idea how to read this stuff. We've got someone upthread comparing this race to Mitch McConnell's 2020 race also.

R41 is an example of that. The first step is having quality candidates everywhere. You need candidates who can win if the political winds change, or if the assumed winner self destructs (or dies) before election day. Every single cycle, presumed winners unexpectedly die or self destruct.

I keep getting Val Demmings “Omg, I’m falling behind in fundraising, Rubio is going to win because YOU’RE not giving me money!” emails, daily. She sounds desperate.

They all do that

[quote] There are plenty of reasons why DeSantis wants fewer Democrats in the Florida legislature, but one is likely top-of-mind: Republicans are currently drawing a gerrymander, and Democrats need every single vote to fight it. By keeping seats vacant, DeSantis is sapping their power.

[quote]I don't understand some voters. They vote AGAINST the person who would be best for them, who CARES about getting legislation passed that would be good for them and then they have the gall to complain that government is BROKEN. Of course, it's bloody broken, you fucktards. You keep voting in people who have contempt for you.

But I'm White, R23. WHITE!!!

[quote] Remember the intense hatred toward Hillary Clinton when it was argued she played in too few states seeking to put the resources where it would work best?

No, but I remember Mook ignoring people on the ground in the rustbelt because the “data” said he could grow the map.

[quote] I'm running for U.S. Senate because I will never tire of standing up for what is right. Never tire of serving Florida. Never tire of doing good.

Forget the voters. It's all about YOU.

This...

She keeps sending me emails begging for $$$. I live in Texas. We've got more than enough problems with republicans here and all my money's going to Texas dems.

r53 It's called hitting UNSUBSCRIBE.

[quote] A panicked question gripped Democratic insiders during their summer of discontent: Where’s Val Demings?

[quote] The answer: She was campaigning almost exclusively on Facebook, growing an army of national small-dollar donors to raise $8.5m —$2.4m more than Rubio

Florida Democrats are so pathetic in strategizing and outreach

She’s not a super hero.

[quote][R53] It's called hitting UNSUBSCRIBE.

You can do that? Boy, did you just save me some time!

Go Val!!!

R58 I never subscribed to begin with but I clicked on unsubscribe.... and I'm still getting emails. Val wants her money.

R60, you're probably on multiple mailing lists. I get them from all sorts of them and many times they pitch the same thing. Unsubscribe from each as you get it. Also, it might take a few days for the unsubscribe to take effect.

Btw, Republicans do this too. But I'll remind you Dems never had the default set to giving monthly donations without the donator knowing it. That's a Repig special.

I am a fan and will be sending her as much money as I can afford.

If you don't have the money, please save it r67. Her chances of winning are slim.

I think Abbott is actually in a much weaker position than DeSantis is. Texas GOP is going to cheat massively next year but I think he can be taken down.

Texas Democrats are as bad as Florida's. In 2020 they nominated a whole slate of 'progressive, women of color' to run for Congress. They all lost badly.

R60, same with me, I never subscribed to begin with, I unsubscribed and they still didn’t stop. I unsubscribed again recently, we’ll see what happens this time.

I bought some stuff on Amazon recently, maybe they sold my info.

Tik Tok Rubio. She is going to WIN. People love her.

Florida is a red state, but Rubio's victories have nevertheless been SCANDALOUSLY narrow. The odds are in his favor, but Val's chances aren't hopeless.

I can see her as president before Harris.

If Kamala wants to be the next President after Biden, she sure as hell isn't ACTING like it.

She needs to turn every day for the next 3 or 7 years into an opportunity to press flesh, kiss babies, and bend over backwards to make every non-Trumpian in America ADORE her. So far, she hasn't.

r68 If you mean victories of 19% and 9%, yeah, super SCANDALOUS.

in 2016, Trump won FL by 1.2%, Rubio won by 9%

She's actually been edging closer to Rubio in the polls, and she's got a year yet.

Yep, shoulda been Veep. But it was Woke Summer, and no cop was gonna get it, particularly one in a two-cop couple.

I'm thinking, top of the ticket in 2024, Pete as Veep.

[quote] in 2016, Trump won FL by 1.2%, Rubio won by 9%

The dem candidates against Rubio were EXTREMELY weak and/or unknown. The best of them was outed (if I recall) as a wife beater. The guy who won the nomination was a nice dummy. And the third had never run any political race in her life.

I live in a blue state far away from FL. I am being inundated with donation solicitations for Rep. Demings' campaign. I really like her. I have already provided a modest contribution. I am still stung by the 2020 Senate races where I contributed thousands to various red-state Dem candidates nationwide because we were falsely led to believe they were competitive with their Republican opponents. I won't be fooled again.

So can anyone in FL offer an honest assessment of whether Demings has a real chance against Rubio. If she does, I will make it rain for her but I don't want to throw my money away (again).

Ditto^^^

I've given Val two $50 donations in the last 4 months. But it resulted in a noxious barrage of daily begging for handouts from her and a host of other Dems, they're apparently linked in databases. The tone of these solicitations is at a shriek pitch. It's hateful and a major turn-off. Abrams is another one, Jesus. I "Unsubscribed" from every last one of them. I'll send her something snail-mail a couple of months before the election but I never want another email from these people again.

Still wanting info on Demings prospects in FL...

[quote] But it resulted in a noxious barrage of daily begging for handouts from her and a host of other Dems

That's everybody. Dems or Repubs.

I am flooded with emails from Tom Perez and everyone else. Yes of course they share databases.

R76 you’d be better off flushing your money down the toilet.

Believe me, I’m no fan of Marco’s, but 2022 is gonna be a red wave. It’s just not gonna happen this year.

Her campaign is really heating up with all of her “it’s time to send a cop on the beat to the Senate!” commercials. I don’t know if she has a chance against little Marco, but she’s got my vote!

Oh for fuck's sake, the Florida Democratic PRIMARY isn't even until August 23rd. Let's not count our chickens yet, m'kay?

Those running in the Democratic primary for the US senate from Florida are 1) Val Demings, 2) Ricardo De La Fuente, 3) Brian Rush, and 4) William Sanchez.

BTW, the Democratic candidates in the primary for Florida governor who seem to have a chance of winning are Charlie Crist (who was previously governor) and Nikki Fried.

She’ll win the primary, but can the cop on the beat actually beat Marco? I hope so.

I like Nikki Fried and Charlie Crist, but DeJerkface is too popular in Florida.

I’m extremely impressed with Val Demings. I live in Michigan and donated to her campaign. She’s tough and no nonsense. We need this in Democrats right now. I hope she surprises. I really like her. She appeals to me very much.

FUCK YEAH!

its the 68% of the florida population comprised of yankee fucktards who will keep republicans in power here. I dont even recognize the Florida I grew up in during the 60s-70s. You hear more northern accents than southern now.I hate it,and as soon as Mother shuffles off this mortal coil my ass is outta here. It used to be a wonderful place,believe it or not.

just what we needed, another nigger.

R86. BLOCKED.

BLOCK PARTY!

You mean Confederates.

Florida is the Hawaii vacay designation for poor white southern-state trash!

[R87] another nigger´s ass licking cunt!

More fucked up DeSatantry.