Three counties undid Romney bid in Florida
Is this one of the costs of going too far right?
As well as Romney executed the GOP playbook, his campaign in Florida was undercut by stunning results in three counties: Duval, Osceola and Miami-Dade.
‘He did not win Duval County by the margin needed to win in a statewide race in Florida,’ said Chris Ingram, a Republican political consultant based in Tampa.
Duval, home to Jacksonville, has long been a strong GOP county; former president George W. Bush had a 61,000-vote advantage there in winning Florida in 2004. But Romney on Tuesday appeared to carry the county by just under 15,000 votes.
The result was a 46,000-vote deficit — nearly the amount by which Romney trailed Obama statewide.
Other counties underperformed for Republicans, but veteran GOP campaign manager Jamie Miller said Duval stands out because of how critical it has been in helping offset Democratic strongholds in southeast Florida.