Yet with the might of his own wallet — and millions of voters upset at the economy's slow recovery and under the spell of an utterly simple message — he pulled off a win.
That was Florida's 2010 gubernatorial race, in which hospital executive Rick Scott beat former state CFO Alex Sink, and seemed in many ways to foreshadow the outcome of the 2016 presidential election.
Both years were near-complete upsets for Democrats, as only the most predictably Dem-leaning down-ballot races went or stayed blue.
But even as wistful Dems chatter on about who may rise to the surface as a possible 2020 contender against Donald Trump and/or Mike Pence, party activists hope their party's voters don't simply hibernate for another four years, as many core Dem voters seem inclined to do for off-year elections.
But with so little voice at the state and federal levels on crucial matters like the environment, healthcare and criminal justice, the next two years may be critical for the party's core issues.
For one, 2017 holds key city-level elections in store in Tampa and St. Petersburg, races that could have a more visible impact on individual lives than who is president (unless you're the child of an undocumented immigrant).
“The local elections are absolutely critical and because of the current national political power structure, the places we're going to see any opportunities for progressive reforms and advances is going to be at the local level,” said Mark Ferrulo, executive director for Progress Florida. “And that's where we have opportunities. In recent years, progressives have taken advantage of those opportunities.”
St. Petersburg has a handful of city-level elections that could have a profound impact on its future, including the mayoral election.
Mayor Rick Kriseman will likely seek reelection for the nonpartisan seat next fall. If he does he's likely to have at least one Republican challenger.
Under the progressive Kriseman Administration and with help from a similarly progressive City Council, the city has vocally embraced LGBT equality and workers' rights. It has launched a 100-percent renewable power initiative, a curbside recycling program and the Cross-Bay Ferry's six-month pilot. Kriseman also pushed forward on the city's most divisive issues, namely the Rays' stadium deal and the St. Pete Pier.
Four of eight City Council seats — Districts 2, 4, 6 and 8 — will also be up, and it's probable Councilwomen Amy Foster and Dardenne Rice would seek reelection, and the other two seats, those of Councilmen Jim Kennedy and Karl Nurse, who are terming out, will be open and likely competitive.
The primary for all five races is set for Aug. 29 and a runoff follows for some seats in November.
“Cities are often the laboratory for great public policy bubbles up to the state level and then states are often the laboratory for great public policy that then bubbles up to the national level,” Ferrulo said.
But his reelection is at risk because of controversy over the city's release of sewage into the bay as a result of heavy rain and bad infrastructure (the latter of which previous administrations had the opportunity to invest in, but didn't adequately do so). Plus, Democrats, less likely to go to the polls in non-presidential elections to begin with, may feel discouraged or inclined to shut it all off the bruiser that was 2016.
Across the bay, even before the year ends voters can weigh in on the runoff for the City Council District 7 seat, a northern Tampa seat Lisa Montelione — a Democrat — vacated in her run against State Rep. Shawn Harrison, the Republican incumbent.
On the ballot are Jim Davison, an emergency room doctor and Luis Viera, a lawyer. The former is against raising the sales tax to fund transit, but does want to ready the area for alternative transportation modes. The latter wants to bring areas like USF and New Tampa into the fold while, as the Tampa Bay Times put in in their endorsement of him, while placing “urgency on transportation” in the wake of multiple failed transit referenda.
Then comes 2018.
As the Trump Administration wears into its second year, state and local elections will again heat up.
Governor Scott and his cabinet will term out, and scores of legislative seats will be open or up for reelection — not to mention any ballot amendments that may crop up between now and then. Sen. Bill Nelson, a Democrat, has said he will seek reelection and Scott said he may challenge Nelson, a longtime senator who is the only Democrat currently to hold statewide elective office.
Democrats have had little luck in non-presidential years, but progressives say vacancies for both the state and national parties' top post can change that — but only if they'd bold enough to try something new.
Laila Abdelaziz, Tampa Bay regional director of the Florida Young Democrats, said the Florida Democratic Party “bears a lot of responsibility” for Trump's election given that they took for granted an oft-disenfranchised base (minorities, young people) while trying to appeal to independents and moderate Republicans.
“Bringing the party to the center is very historically a Clinton strategy,” she said. “This is the blue-dog Democrat Clinton strategy that we've seen since the 1990s. And I think that the Election Night results are kind of the test that puts that politics to rest for the Democratic Party. That should be the lesson that they learn.”
Instead of another moderate Democrat (who likely was a former Republican or just has a lot of name recognition), perhaps Dems ought to take a risk by running someone for governor who sees the plight of those hurt most by Trump's policies as well as those of Republicans in power at the state level and offers a tangible alternative.
Florida's Democratic base (and likely many others), Abdelaziz said, wants someone who'll fight for a living wage, universal healthcare, legalized recreational marijuana and infrastructure investment — and outspoken advocates who will push for them.
“Bad politicians get elected by good people who don't vote,” she sad. “And good people don't vote when they're just not presented with a good option. And we really have to start understanding what the base of the party's concerned about, what the base of the party wants.”
This article appears in Nov 17-24, 2016.