There wasnt much drama in Tuesdays primaries, with little to take interest in at the state level as Rick Scott and Charlie Crist cruised in the gubernatorial primaries and George Sheldon beat Perry Thurston to become the sacrificial lamb thrown at Pam Bondi in November.
Despite that, there were some major winners and losers across the Sunshine State after the smoke cleared.
WINNERS
Thad Altman: It seems that every two years, the buzz grows that Bill Posey will be leaving Congress and Republicans all along the Space Coast plan to line up to run. Altman is the subject of some of that congressional speculation and he proved on Tuesday he will be a major factor if Posey leaves Washington anytime soon. Altman beat primary opponent Monique Miller by a 2-to-1 margin, showing once again he is much more popular than other Republicans in the area, including John Tobia who had a much harder time in his primary against Tim Street.
Jeb Bush: The former governor has angered conservatives in recent months with his support for Common Core and his position on immigration, attacking Arizona for its law and breaking with the GOP on the matter. But Bush remains the darling of Florida Republicans as was seen once again on Tuesday. Bush helped Carlos Curbelo to an impressive victory over a crowded Republican primary field looking to take down Joe Garcia in South Florida. In Central Florida, Bush was even more of a factor, helping propel Carol Platt to a primary win as she prepares to take on Alan Grayson. Bush rolled the dice by backing candidates in crowded primaries and it paid off beautifully.
John Cortes: The biggest upset of the night was pulled off in Osceola County where this former New York City police officer was outspent by more than 5-to-1 by Ricardo Rangel. It didnt matter. Cortes worked hard and beat out the freshman state representative in the primary. While he doesnt have much in the bank, Cortes will now find many more doors open for him since this is a secure Democratic district.
Alcee Hastings: Love him or loathe him, the longtime congressman shows no signs of going away. He had two high-profile opponents in Jean Enright and Jameel McCline and he still ended up with 79 percent of the primary vote. Hastings wont be leaving Congress anytime soon.
Marco Rubio:Backing Julio Gonzalez in an open primary against Richard DeNapoli in what appeared to be a competitive primary for an open Florida House seat was a bit of a gamble for Rubio. But Rubio showed no signs of backing down and cut a TV ad for Gonzalez. Rubio showed he remains popular in Florida, helping Gonzalez to a big win on Tuesday night. Besides that, Rubio was smart enough not to help old ally David Riveras comeback attempt in South Florida.
LOSERS
Jorge Bonilla: This Republican congressional hopeful made a major mistake by trotting out endorsements from Dana Loesch and Michelle Malkin which trashed Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio. Instead of helping his campaign to take down Alan Grayson, Bonilla drew heat from primary opponents Carol Platt and Peter Vivaldi. Bonilla bobbed and weaved before walking the endorsements back. Platt, who had Bushs support, crushed Bonilla by almost 25 percent on Tuesday night, a sharp reminder that the former governor remains pretty popular with the GOP faithful in Florida.
House Democrats: Not exactly a stellar night for the Democratic caucus in the Florida House. Leader Perry Thurston was blown out by George Sheldon in the attorney general primary. Incumbent Ricardo Rangel lost to John Cortes in the primary despite outspending the challenger 5-to-1. After being run over in the special session earlier this month on redistricting, some vulnerable House Democrat incumbents -- Dwight Dudley, Linda Stewart and Carl Zimmerman come to mind -- have to be concerned their GOP opponents had no problems in Tuesdays primaries.
David Rivera: The former congressman had been a proven winner in South Florida for almost a decade -- but now he is a political joke. Rivera made a last-minute announcement that he was going to run in the Republican primary to challenge Joe Garcia. But then he changed his mind and suspended his campaign, talking about running for a Florida House seat in 2016. While this was going on, Rivera kept running robocalls asking voters to back him in the primary. Rivera soon said he was running in the primary even as his legal problems continued to mount. When the smoke cleared, Rivera took a pathetic 7.5 percent in Tuesdays primary, finishing a distant fourth in the five-man field. Riveras done and his legal problems arent going away.
Jake Rush: The Gainesville attorney became something of national laughingstock earlier this year when photos of his vampire role-playing hobby drew attention. Rush never recovered, attacking Ted Yoho on too many fronts, claiming the congressman was behind the story but dashing off to Stephen Colberts show to laugh about it. Later on in the campaign, Rush screamed nepotism over Yohos son working as a congressional intern. The problem there was Rush has been working for his father. By the end of the campaign, Rush was going all out against Yoho and had nothing to offer besides an unending series of attacks. By the end of the campaign, Yoho appeared stronger than ever, taking 79.4 percent against Rush. For the short term at least, its tough seeing how Rush comes back from this disastrous campaign.
Alex Sink: The former state CFO who lost to Rick Scott by the skin of her teeth continued her fall from power on Tuesday. After blowing it against David Jolly for an open congressional seat this year, Sink spent Tuesday campaigning with her former employee Sean Shaw as he ran in the Democratic primary for an open House seat. Not only did Shaw lose to Ed Narain in a major upset, Sink went after Scott in crass terms on Tuesday, repeatedly calling out the governor for his bullsh-- in a media interview. Instead of being a factor in the gubernatorial primary or angling for a rematch with Jolly, Sink proved she could not help a Democrat win a primary contest in her own backyard in Tampa Bay. Increasingly, she is looking like a spent force in Florida politics.
Tallahassee political writer Jeff Henderson wrote this analysis exclusively for Sunshine State News.
