Miami GOP seeks unicorn candidate to save Dem-trending Ros-Lehtinen seat
By Marc Caputo
05/01/17 05:33 AM EDT
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen’s surprise announcement that she’s quitting Congress has left the GOP with a needle-in-the-haystack problem: finding a socially moderate Republican in a party where they’re in short supply.
And even if Republicans find the right candidate for Ros-Lehtinen’s seat next year, there’s no guarantee he or she will run.
Because Florida’s 27th Congressional District is now such a deep shade of Democratic blue — Hillary Clinton carried it by nearly 20 percentage points last year — many Republican donors and conservative groups won’t be keen on financing what could be a hopeless mission to keep the seat in GOP hands, with the 2018 House map set to include numerous other districts where the party's chances are better. The 27th District was considered relatively defensible for Republicans as long as Ros-Lehtinen, an icon in Miami politics who beat her Democratic challenger last year by about 10 points, stayed.
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http://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/01/miami-gop-ileana-ros-lehtinen-candidate-237823
