It’s official. As reported by the West Orlando News former Orlando Chief of Police Val Demings officially announced her candidacy for Congress in Florida’s 8th District, a seat currently held by Republican Daniel Webster.
During Demings tenure as the city’s top cop Orlando’s rate of violent crime dropped 40 percent. She was the city’s first African-American Chief of Police and served the department for 27 years.
Demings is well qualified for to run for Congress and should prove to be a formidable candidate.
However, does she have enough political moxy to beat a Daniel Webster or Alan Grayson?
Demings is a wildly popular in Orlando and will have the support of many in the Orlando community.
But in 2010 Dan Webster was able to beat Democratic incumbent Alan Grayson by more than 39,000 votes. Back in 2008 when Grayson first won the seat he bested Republican Ric Keller by just four percentage points.
Simply put: A Democrat running in this district will not have an easy road to win this seat.
Webster carried Orange County by almost 20,000 votes, a county that Demings will have to win in 2012.
Another interesting factoid from 2010 came from the Florida U.S. Senate race. Marco Rubio was able to carry 55 percent of the Hispanic vote compared to 20 percent for Kendrick Meek.
The Hispanic population in Florida swelled 18 percent from 2000 to 2010 to over 18 million Hispanic residents. Demings will have to find a way to connect to the Hispanic community in a way that speaks to their issues, their plight, and what’s important to them politically.
She’ll also have to differentiate herself from Democratic rock star Alan Grayson.
Grayson is known as the politician with guts as he’s never willing to back down from a fight and is a hero to many progressive Democrats.
Grayson has a proven track record in Congress and many Democrats were sorry to see him go in 2010 and will be anxious to put him back in the same seat. What can Demings do to prove that she deserves the seat over Grayson?
One thing that Mrs. Demings will have in her favor is her ability to fight and to connect with voters. She’s personable, very astute, and has a team of great supporters behind her.
Demings won’t bring a knife to this political gun fight and over the next few months we’ll see just how formidable of a candidate she can become.
