Though Taddeo's victory over state Rep. Jose Felix Diaz in the Miami-area swing district won't change control of the state Senate — where the GOP holds 24 of 40 seats — it gives the once-dispirited party a badly needed lift heading into the 2018 elections. National Democrats pointed out that Democrats have now flipped a total of seven legislative seats in seven states during "the Trump era."
Still, Democrats have a disastrous recent track record in contested races. Of the five state Senate seats targeted in 2016, they only won one, a gut shot to a party hoping to make real gains in flipping the chamber.
Taddeo's win wasn't just about Trump. She ran against the GOP-led Republican Legislature that she said favors big business over the common Floridian when it comes to tax policy, health care and homeowners insurance — a big issue after Hurricane Irma ripped through Florida earlier this month, but politics 101 played a role.
