MIAMI BEACH, FL—At a Wednesday morning press conference, Florida Governor DeSantis responded to Republicans overtaking local elections, telling reporters Democrats nixed their Primary because they feared Biden would be embarrassed.
On Tuesday, Republicans went to the polls to vote in the Presidential Primary, despite Donald Trump already having won the party's nomination. Democrats, however, opted to not hold a Democratic Presidential Primary, as President Joe Biden is their only candidate.
"The Florida Democratic Party is like the best opposition party we could ever ask for," DeSantis said. "They canceled their Presidential Primary because they feared Biden may get embarrassed by not getting a high enough percentage."
Because of this, Democratic turnout in local elections on Tuesday was relatively low, resulting in Republican dominance over multiple Mayoral elections. Republican-tied Clearwater candidate Bruce Rector edged out Democratic-funded Kathleen Beckman for mayor, and Delray Beach and Oakland faced similar trends.
"That totally tanked their turnout and that gave Republicans the ability to win—like the Delray Beach Mayor, which has not exactly been solid Republican territory," DeSantis said, referencing GOP-backed Tom Carney beating out Ryan Bolston in a district Biden had won by nearly 30 percentage points in 2020.
DeSantis called the Democrats' decision to not hold a primary a "major own goal", claiming Florida Democrats "have a real serious habit of just doing dumb things over and over again."
Democrats, however, maintain that they planned to focus on these local elections, and in doing so managed to take back seats in both Broward and Orange Counties.
"While Republicans cast their votes in a GOP primary that has already been decided — where Ron’s name remains on the ballot after the worst-run presidential campaign in history — Democrats will vote for candidates in critical local elections, and continue to build on the momentum of the past year," Florida Democratic Chairwoman Nikki Fried said before the election.
