Democrat Tom Keen flips GOP seat, wins House District 35 special election

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Courtesy of the Tom Keen for Florida House campaign

Democratic candidate Tom Keen for Florida House District 35.

In a notable victory for Florida’s minority party, Democrat Tom Keen was elected to the Republican-dominated Florida House in a special election held Tuesday. Facing off against “conservative patriot” Erika Booth, Keen  won 51.3% of the vote in District 35, which covers parts of eastern Orange and Osceola County. The District 35 seat has been vacant since former state Rep. Fred Hawkins, resigned from the seat last year to take a job as president of South Florida State College.

Keen’s victory offers a shred of hope for Florida Democrats, who lost several seats in the Florida House in 2022. Republicans hold more than double the number of seats in the Florida House than Democrats, in a legislative supermajority.

Keen, a U.S. Navy veteran and a manager at Collins Aerospace, was backed by several local labor unions, Florida Planned Parenthood, Equality Florida, and various elected Democrats on the state and federal levels. He campaigned as a “committed progressive” who would support abortion rights, address affordable housing issues, and protect the rights of LGBTQ citizens.

His campaign used mailers, social media and door-knocking to get the word out about his candidacy. About three-quarters of the district’s voters live in Orange County, where Keen also resides. Canvassers reportedly knocked on over 3,000 doors this past weekend alone. He also hosted town halls to discuss abortion rights and skyrocketing property insurance premiums, both political priorities of his.

Republican competitor Erika Booth, who currently serves as a member of the Osceola County School Board, campaigned on a right-wing platform, touting slogans such as “stop the woke mob,” and aligned herself with the platform of former President Donald Trump. Her campaign was backed by the Florida Republican Party (no duh) and industry trade groups like the Florida Realtors Association and the Associated Industries of Florida, the self-described “voice of Florida business” with a hodgepodge of political committees funded by companies like Amazon, Publix, TECO and Google.

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Booth, who’s also married to Osceola County commissioner Ricky Booth, out-fundraised Keen on her campaign by a mile, securing over $300,000 in campaign contributions since launch. Over $100,000 of that came from Republican organizations and GOP lawmakers, according to Fresh Take Florida.

Keen, meanwhile, secured the support he did after raking in less than half of Booth’s total dollars, which included donations made to his campaign individually and his affiliated political committee, Friends of Tom Keen. Booth’s campaign was not affiliated with any PAC, as far as has been reported.

According to unofficial numbers posted around 7:30 at the Osceola County Supervisor of Elections office, 20.7% of eligible voters turned out, while Orange County saw 18.8% turnout. Nearly twice as many Osceola County voters chose to vote by mail, while that trend was reversed in Orange, with the majority of voters turning out in person.

With this victory, Keen will still be up for election this fall with all other state lawmakers. The primary election is scheduled for Aug. 20, and the general election is Nov. 5.