by Frank Holmes, reporter
Republicans pulled off a major win in the Virginia governor’s race last Tuesday, but it was a different governor’s race that nearly gave the Democratic Party a heart attack.
New Jersey’s election between incumbent Democrat Phil Murphy and Republican challenger Jack Ciattarelli had the party biting its collective nails down to the nubs.
Ciattarelli, is a former assemblyman, but he took aim at Murphy’s over-the-top Covid lockdown policies—and he nearly won the deep-blue state.
As of Thursday morning, Ciattarelli had said he would not concede until all the votes were counted and he’s still within a hair’s breadth of Murphy… who long ago claimed victory.
The country’s most outspoken Republican governor thinks he knows why Murphy can declare victory: All the Republicans packed up and moved out of New Jersey, headed for the Sunshine State!
“We would probably have won the New Jersey governor’s race, but all the Republicans moved to Florida to New Jersey, because they get so frustrated,” Gov. DeSantis joked last Friday at the National Conference of State Legislatures.
The outspoken had a theory about why people want out of New Jersey and other Democratic strongholds: “I think it’s (people) fleeing the restrictions,” he said, “fleeing the lawlessness, and the crime and many other things.” He said red states like his are “not like begging people to move, but I do think that you’re seeing people move to states that value freedom.”
The environment is much different in Florida, the governor said.
“From the very beginning, we backed the people that wear the uniform, and what happens is you see some of these places when they defund or take the funding away, you’ve seen crime absolutely skyrocket,” DeSantis said on Friday. “Once these areas go deep blue, they get destroyed.”
Then he called out Democrat-run progressive areas on each coast (and almost nowhere else, except Chicago).
“How many places are deep blue that are well-governed in this country? Can you name me some? Los Angeles? San Francisco? Portland? Chicago? Seattle? New York City?” DeSantis asked rhetorically. “I mean, tell me where you can find the success story of Woke Progressivism imposed on a people. I don’t see it.”
Murphy’s most publicized coronavirus exploit came when he tried to close down gyms as “non-essential,” and Atilis Gym owner Ian Smith refused to shut down, calling the order a “gross abuse of power.”
Smith is still suing Murphy, but a lot of state residents have just called it quits, packed up the U-haul, and pulled onto I-95 headed south.
More people moved out of New Jersey in 2020 than from any other state, according to the National Migration Study from United Van Lines.
“The survey also reveals that those at the highest income levels were more likely to leave the state. For example, 49.2% of those earnings $150,000 or more left New Jersey vs. 37.3% of those at the same income levels who entered the state,” according to New Jersey Business Magazine.
On the other hand, Florida is growing with a head of steam. According to state figures, 329,717 people moved to Florida between April 2020 and April 2021. It’s 555,710 since last January. Some estimates say 900 people a day are moving to Florida. The growth is so fast the Florida picked up a new congressional seat after the 2020 Census.
It’s a national issue, though.
Two of the fastest-growing congressional districts in the country are in Florida, nationwide nine of the 10 fastest-growing congressional districts in America are represented by a Republican. Republicans are leaving places like New Jersey for places like Florida.
“When I got elected governor, we had 280,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans in the state of Florida,” DeSantis said. “For the first time in the history of Florida, we’ve now overtaken Democrats.”
At least DeSantis’ seat is safe. Politico reports that the Democrats’ campaign arm for state races, the Democratic Governors Association, has “no plans to give significant financial help to Florida Democrats as they seek to unseat Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2022, a major setback that will make it harder for challengers to take on the popular Republican.”
The Democrats know when they are beaten… even if it helps them in other states.
Frank Holmes is a veteran journalist and an outspoken conservative that talks about the news that was in his weekly article, “On The Holmes Front.”