Calm Down, Democrats, Here's What Really Happened in Jacksonville

Touting what they see as twin victories, Democratic activists hailed this week's election of Alvin Brown in Jacksonville's mayoral race and the supposed decline in Gov. Rick Scott's political fortunes.

But consider these points:

• Scott carried Duval County last year with barely 51 percent of the vote. No Republican can expect a coattail ride on that percentage.
• African-Americans constitute roughly one of every three registered voters, and they vote for Democratic candidates 90 percent of the time. (Even more so when the candidate is black, as Brown is.)
• A massive street money operation by Organizing for America out of Chicago and Washington, D.C., boosted the Brown vote in the urban precincts. In one, he got 1,200-plus votes to Republican Mike Hogan's 13.
• The Democratic Party pumped more than $850,000 into Brown's campaign, along with untold sums from so-called C4 groups.

Bottom line: Republicans were outspent and out-organized, just as they were earlier this year when Democrat Bob Buckhorn rolled to victory in Tampa.

But the Democratic "party" comes to a screeching halt Tuesday in Miami-Dade, where Republicans maintain control of local government and are widely expected to sweep the special election in Florida's most populous county.

Watch Sunshine State News for an upcoming story previewing that contest.