Democrat Ted Deutch won a special election Tuesday, making him the winner of the first federal election since the passing of the historic health care bill, which Republicans hoped would be the Democrats waterloo in the 2010 elections.
"We've heard for months that tonight ... is a referendum on health care, it's a referendum on the (Obama) administration, it's a referendum on what direction this country is going," Deutch said following his victory. "Let me tell you something, what we learned today is that in Broward County and Palm Beach County, Florida, the Democratic Party is alive and well."
With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Deutch defeated Republican Ed Lynch, 62 percent to 35 percent. Lynch attempted to make the election a referendum on health care, but failed to convince the more than 234,000 Democrats in the state's 19th congressional district to vote against Deutch.
It's tough to say whether or not this election had anything to do with the passage of the health care bill, considering the district is largely Democratic. However, it was a substantial victory which tells me that health care certainly did not hurt Deutch's chances and may have even helped him among Independents, who were beginning to question if the party could legislate.
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