FL-SD25: Kristen Arrington aims to keep SD 25 blue, but Jose Martinez says voters deserve a Spanish-speaking Senator

Rep. Kristen Arrington hopes voters promote her to the Senate on Nov. 5. But can political newcomer Jose Martinez flip a Hispanic-majority seat red instead?

Arrington and Martinez face each other in Senate District 25, with the winner set to succeed retiring Sen. Victor Torres, an Orlando Democrat. Torres first won election in a slightly differently shaped district in 2016, running up 58% of the vote at the time. But he won his last term in 2022 with less than 53% over Republican Peter Vivaldi.

That left Gov. Ron DeSantis openly wishing Republicans had made a stronger play for the Hispanic-performing seat, and Republicans have only grown a presence there since. But Democrats feel confident the Orange-Osceola seat remains blue.

In September, polling showed Arrington with a 17-percentage-point lead on Martinez. And voter registration numbers still show the 117,000 registered Democrats outnumber the more than 81,000 Republicans substantially, as do the more than 105,000 voters with no party affiliation.



https://floridapolitics.com/archives/705026-kristen-arrington-aims-to-keep-sd-25-blue-but-jose-martinez-says-voters-deserve-a-spanish-speaking-senator/