Isadora Rangel

Florida Today

You probably don't hear this often in Brevard County: Democrats are feeling more victorious than Republicans after an election.

Tuesday's municipal races were nonpartisan, but both parties, to much controversy, got involved to support their candidates. While Republican-backed candidates won more seats, Democrats feel a momentum they haven't experienced in recent history.

Democratic voter turnout was 30 percent compared to 21 percent by the GOP even though Republicans had almost 4,000 more voters eligible to participate in the six contested municipal races.

The local Democrat Party backed six candidates and won three seats in Rockledge, Malabar and Cape Canaveral. Four candidates the GOP actively supported also won in Cape Canaveral, Melbourne Beach and Indialantic.

The Democrats proved they can at least make a dent in the GOP's dominance on the Space Coast. Their victory, albeit small, motivated them going into the more challenging 2018 local and state elections. Until last year, when new leadership energized by President Trump's victory took over, the local Democrat Executive Committee was virtually dormant.

"This is kind of like a practice race," said Eli Logan, president of the Democratic Progressive Caucus of Brevard. "It came out of left field for the GOP."

More:Rangel: Will Brevard Democrats ride anti-Trump wave to success?



We're not talking about turning Brevard blue anytime soon and Republican Executive Committee Vice Chair Susan Hammerling told me the results of Tuesday's elections won't make the county more competitive or change the GOP's strategy in next year's election.

The strategy

The Democrat Executive Committee registered voters, deployed volunteers to knock on doors on behalf of candidates and tracked and reminded Democrats who requested mail ballots to submit them.

This is what that strategy looked like:

Kendall Moore, a former Democratic Rockledge council member said his wife, also a registered Democrat, received phone calls and text messages reminding her to turn in her vote-by-mail ballot. The party only stopped reaching out when she finally turned in her ballot. Three people, including Democratic candidate Sammie Brown Martin, also knocked on the couple's door. Martin won the Rockledge City Council contest and Democrats turned out at 28 percent of registered voters versus 15 percent by the GOP.

This is standard procedure in bigger partisan elections, where candidates' party affiliations appear on the ballot. Republicans criticized Democrats for getting involved and politicizing these small elections where local issues and not partisanship should be the focus.

The GOP also backed its own candidates with social media posts. Hammerling said party volunteers also waved signs, went door to door and made phone calls on behalf of candidates. Sheriff Wayne Ivey, Brevard's most popular Republican, endorsed four candidates in Cape Canaveral, Rockledge and Malabar.

More:Nonpartisan municipal elections take partisan feel; Democrats, Republicans debate tactics

More:Political Spin: Parties crash 'nonpartisan' races

The two Ivey-backed candidates who lost had Democrat opponents. Robert LaMarr lost to Martin in Rockledge and John Bond lost to Angela Raymond in Cape Canaveral, where another Ivey-supported candidate, Wes Morrison, won. Dick Korn, also endorsed by Ivey, won a seat on the Malabar Town Council.

Martin's campaign manager Alberta Wilson told me the Democrat Executive Party's volunteers, who went door to door, were essential in her victory.

"You know what the Democratic Party did?" Wilson said. "They returned to grassroots."

Uphill battle

Can Democrats reproduce Tuesday's wins in the 2018 elections? The road map will look a lot different: those races cover larger geographic areas and require more money. They also are going up against Republican incumbents.

The party has candidates running against the powerful GOP state Sen. Dorothy Hukill and in nonpartisan races for the School Board seat of Andy Ziegler, who's expected to run for re-election, and the Palm Bay City Council seat of Tres Holton, who already filed for re-election. There are no Democrats running for two County Commission seats, U.S. Rep. Bill Posey's seat and other state offices.

Democrats have years of GOP control in Brevard to reverse. No Democrat currently is elected to a partisan office and it might be tougher when candidates have to run with a D next to their name. The last one to do so successfully was former County Commissioner Robin Fisher of Titusville, who left office last year.

How far can grassroots momentum carry Democrats remains to be seen. The party's big wins on Tuesday in gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey and in a St. Petersburg mayoral contest hint of a new momentum.

Brevard Democrats' endeavor still is very much a David-versus-Goliath tale — and likely will be so for years and maybe decades — but if there's a time to give it a shot it is now.

Isadora Rangel is FLORIDA TODAY's public affairs and engagement editor and a member of the Editorial Board. Her columns reflect her opinion. Readers may reach her at irangel@floridatoday.com, by phone at 321-242-3631 or via Facebook at www.facebook.com/IsadoraRangelReporter.