In what is becoming a trend - Democrat Annette Taddeo defeated Republican Jose Felix Diaz in Florida’s state Senate District 40 which is in the southwest part of Miami.
The Palm Beach Post explains the importance and recent election history:
The competitive matchup in Senate District 40, which voted overwhelmingly for Democrat Hillary Clinton in last year’s presidential race but also elected the Republican Artiles, is viewed by many as a harbinger of how Democrats might fare in upcoming elections.
It’s also seen as a litmus test for President Donald Trump, who is lauded by many of the district’s Cuban-American voters for chilling his predecessor’s accord with Cuba but is denounced by other Hispanics for his hard-line stance on immigration, especially policies involving undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children, known as “Dreamers.”
Miami has a long history of swing districts at the state level driven in large part by the Cuban vote. Republican Mario Diaz-Balart represents Florida’s 25th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives which incorporates parts of this district. Republicans are seeing the writing on the wall throughout the country as incumbents have been retiring ahead of difficult races where American voters are largely unhappy with the Republican party that has proven itself to be in lock step with the Trump agenda by and large.