Florida 2016: Here We Go Again?
04-15-2015
Sen. Marco Rubio's official entrance in the race for the White House leaves up for grabs his U.S. Senate seat, making Florida a toss up contest in an important swing state during a presidential election year.
So far, two-term Florida Congressman Patrick Murphy is the only Democrat to declare his candidacy for the open seat.
Other names include Reps. Alan Grayson, Gwen Graham and possibly even DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz or the perennial candidate former Gov. Charlie Crist. At the moment, however, Murphy is the only one who's made it official and has a campaign website.
On the Republican side, conservatives appear to be rallying behind Florida Congressman Ron DeSantis, a 36-year-old former Navy JAG, though the GOP field likely will grow more crowded.
But there's also an effort to draft another Republican who's no stranger to a political fight: former U.S. Representative and retired Army Col. Allen West.
The Conservative Action Fund is circulating a petition to draft West to "replace Rubio with a principled conservative" and prevent "Obama-loving liberals [from] tak[ing] this seat right out from under us" according to an email the political action committee is circulating.
In past interviews the tough-talking war veteran has said he'd consider running, but West has yet to make it official.
If he does decide to run, it conceivably paves the way for a rematch between him and the man who un-seated him in what became the most expensive U.S. House race in history.
Of course, there are fundraisers, campaign events, and primaries that come first, but if it is Murphy v. West part two, history won't be repeating itself with only the Bushes and Clintons.
So far, two-term Florida Congressman Patrick Murphy is the only Democrat to declare his candidacy for the open seat.
Other names include Reps. Alan Grayson, Gwen Graham and possibly even DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz or the perennial candidate former Gov. Charlie Crist. At the moment, however, Murphy is the only one who's made it official and has a campaign website.
On the Republican side, conservatives appear to be rallying behind Florida Congressman Ron DeSantis, a 36-year-old former Navy JAG, though the GOP field likely will grow more crowded.
But there's also an effort to draft another Republican who's no stranger to a political fight: former U.S. Representative and retired Army Col. Allen West.
The Conservative Action Fund is circulating a petition to draft West to "replace Rubio with a principled conservative" and prevent "Obama-loving liberals [from] tak[ing] this seat right out from under us" according to an email the political action committee is circulating.
In past interviews the tough-talking war veteran has said he'd consider running, but West has yet to make it official.
If he does decide to run, it conceivably paves the way for a rematch between him and the man who un-seated him in what became the most expensive U.S. House race in history.
Of course, there are fundraisers, campaign events, and primaries that come first, but if it is Murphy v. West part two, history won't be repeating itself with only the Bushes and Clintons.
