How Donald Trump's attempted coup could cost Republicans a critical Florida House seat: report

11 October 2022

Former President Donald Trump's attempted coup may have contributed greatly to the Republican Party's loss of Hispanic voters, a new analysis explains.

According to HuffPost, Democrats may have an edge in Florida as the attempted coup may have "driven away just enough Hispanic voters wary about autocracy in South Florida."

The analysis follows the announcement that House Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) super PAC plans to spend approximately $2 million to assist freshman lawmaker Rep. Maria Salazar (R-Fla.) to remain in office.

However, per the news outlet, the Cook Political Report "moved its rating for the district from 'likely' Republican to 'lean' Republican which suggests a potential problem for the political party.

Speaking to a group outside of her campaign headquarters in Coral Gables, Fla., Democratic state Sen. Annette Taddeo weighed in on the poll projections. “I guess they’ve been seeing some polling,” Taddeo said to the crowd of an estimated 100 volunteers. “Kevin McCarthy knows that if he wants to get the gavel, he’s got to keep this seat.”

Salazar’s campaign insists she “delivered over $17 million” in projects designated for her respective district as she claimed her career in local television likely makes voters more secure about “her commitment to them.” In a recent statement, Salazar's press office also defended her.

“That’s why she defeated an entrenched Democrat incumbent in 2020 and it’s why Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar will win re-election in November by defeating another socialist career politician,” the press office said.

However, Taddeo's campaign is focused on the poll which suggests the race is currently tied. “We can win, and we can save democracy in the process,” she said.

HuffPost's S.V. Date attributes Hispanics' concerns to the state's problematic congressional map redrawn to lean more favorable toward the Republican Party. "Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis, who largely drew the state’s new congressional map after vetoing a more moderate version drawn by Republicans in the state legislature, shored up Salazar’s seat slightly by removing Democrat-rich Miami Beach from the district and adding more Hispanics in and around Little Havana," Date noted. "Under the new lines, the district would have voted for Trump over Biden by half a percentage point."

He added, "That presidential vote in 2020, though, took place before the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol that Trump incited as part of his attempt to remain in power despite having lost the election to Biden. And that action, according to Taddeo and her supporters, turned off many residents who had fled and whose families had fled authoritarian regimes in Latin America, including Cuba."

According to Taddeo, those concerns might suggest a more favorable outcome for Democrats. Date wrote, "Her campaign shows results from an internal poll finding that Trump now suffers from a 40-54 favorable-to-unfavorable ratio in the district, with 48% viewing him 'very' unfavorably. Biden, in contrast, has a 49-45 favorable-to-unfavorable ratio, with only 37% seeing him 'very' unfavorably."

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