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Florida Republicans dominated the most competitive races this year, flipping five state House seats, a state Senate seat and two congressional seatsheld by Democrats.

And the winning candidates including Sarasota state Rep. Fiona McFarland in six of these eight swing districts have something in common they all are women.

The GOP often is viewed as the party of older white men, but 2020 was a big year for GOP women in Florida, and it didnt happen by accident.

I think the speaker-designate in the House definitely made it a goal to recruit quality female candidates, said Anthony Pedicini, a GOP consultant who worked with GOP state House Speaker Chris Sprowls on legislative races.

The Florida GOP used the same playbook that Democrats used in 2018 when they won many of these same swing seats with female candidates, a number of whom were defeated by GOP women this year.

Pedicini said the swing voters in these swing seats often are women, so it makes sense to give them a candidate they can identify with.

From a pure political, practical standpoint, when suburban women were going to decide so many of these races, Pedicini said, the GOP should put up candidates that look like those voters.If were trying to convert suburban women, the message carrier should be one of their own.

Voters want to be able to identify with a candidate, Pedicini said.

There are two questions a voter asks when deciding who to vote for: Is that candidate like me and do I like them? he said. And if they answer yes to both of those questions, youre likely to get them to vote for you.

Pedicini noted that its still important to recruit quality candidates who have strong credentials. McFarland, for example, is a Navy veteran with leadership experience and an extensive record of service. Running a good campaign also matters. McFarland raised more money than her opponent and knocked on more than 25,000 doors during the general election.

But all things being equal, Pedicinibelieves women have an advantage.

Definitely being a political practitioner you want an edge in the election, I think female candidates give you an edge for many reasons, Pedicini said, adding: I give an edge to the women because I think theres a sincerity, a connection.

McFarland said that when she was considering running for the District 72 seat, which covers much of northern Sarasota County, she heard from consultants that a female candidate had the best shot at winning the seat.

It worked for Democrats in 2018. Sarasota Democrat Margaret Good flipped District 72 from GOP control two years ago. This year, Democrats nominated Sarasota attorney Drake Buckman to run against McFarland. He ended up losing by 9.2percentage points.

Still, McFarland said she didnt focus on the gender issue during the campaign. Instead she tried to emulate other aspects of what made Good successful in 2018.

I looked at how she flipped the seat ...in my mind she won because she raised a lot of money, and she knocked on a lot of doors and worked real hard and had other personal attributes not related to gender that made her successful, McFarland said.

But McFarland doesnt discount gender being a factor, saying some voters might want to see more women in office and some may assume women are better listeners and consensus seekers and thats something people want in this time of divisiveness.

McFarland is glad to see diversity among the new crop of GOP elected officials, which wasnt just a trend in Florida this year.

Its pretty cool, isnt it? She said. Im proud of the Republican Party but I think its indicative of the times.

The 2020 election resulted in 17 new Republican women in Congress, boosting the partys female representation to a record level, according to the Washington Post. Republican women defeated 10 of the 13 Democratic incumbents who lost their seats in Congress.

Its about time, right? Pedicini said of the GOPs diversity push.

Of course, the GOP still has plenty of white men in office. Floridas congressional delegation has 16 Republicans and just one is a woman, Maria Elvira Salazar, who defeated a Democratic woman in a Miami swing district this year.

However, the delegation also added a Black Republican man and anotherHispanic Republican man this year, bringing more diversity.

McFarland noted that diversity can take many forms.

To me when I say diversity I think diversity of experience is most important and in some ways thats guided by sex or race or ethnic background, she said.

Read more from the original source:
Florida GOP found success in swing districts this year with female candidates - Sarasota Herald-Tribune