Charlie Crist Wins A Florida Seat
In probably one of the strangest Election Days in history Florida voted in Charlie Crist to win a congressional seat on Tuesday… as a Democrat.
Republican-turned-independent-turned- Deomcrat Crist, beat out incumbent Republican David Jolly, which was expected because of redistricting that made the west district more Democratic.
The race saw much controversy as Crist served majority of his political career as a Republican, which included his time as governor of Florida from 2007 to 2011. In 2010 he ran for the U.S. Senate as a Republican but when Marco Rubio started overtaking the polls Crist switch to independent and lost.
In 2012 Crist made his switch to Democrat and ran for governor two years later and lost.
The congressional seat has been on the Democrats’ minds as a way to cut into the GOP lead in the House of Representatives.
Debbie Wasserman Schultz Wins District 23 Congressional Race
U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz was re-elected Tuesday in South Florida’s 23rd congressional district.
Wasserman Schultz, a Democrat, was first elected in 2004. She defeated Republican Joe Kaufman by about 16 percentage points for the district that covers parts of Broward and Miami-Dade counties. Kaufman challenged Wasserman Schultz in 2014 and was unsuccessful then too.
The two candidates disagreed on every issue presented.
Wasserman Schultz served as chair of the Democratic National Committee from 2011 until this past year. She resigned due to a Wikileaks release of emails that showed her and the DNC’s efforts to derail Sen. Bernie Sanders during the primaries.
Florida Referendums
Amendment 1: Establishes the right of consumers to generate solar electricity for their own personal use.
Yes 51% 4,526,075
No 49% 4,388,952
The Amendment was rejected, needing 60% to pass.
Amendment 2: Allows the use of medical marijuana for individuals with debilitating medical conditions as determined by a doctor.
Yes 71% 6,467,381
No 29% 2,607,896
The Amendment passed.
Amendment 3: Tax exemption for totally and partially disabled first-responders.
Yes 84% 7,441,090
No 16% 1,442,203
The Amendment passed.
Amendment 5: Tax exemption for low-income, senior, and long-term residents.
Yes 78% 6,842,938
No 22% 1,897,516
The Amendment passed.
