Florida Looms Large for Republicans

Nate Cohn: “Certain states matter more than others in electoral politics. Ohio, Virginia and Colorado have been the battleground states during the last two cycles. Florida has been an afterthought, but it is positioned to return to the forefront. No state looms larger as the Republican Party mulls its future.”

“It’s not just because two of the party’s top presidential hopefuls — Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio — are from the Sunshine State. (Presidential candidates tend to perform better in their home states by as much as 4 to 6 percentage points.) Florida is where Republicans have the most obvious opportunities to improve their 2016 chances. There are few places where an immigration bill could help the party more than in Florida, where 22 percent of the population is Hispanic.”

Check out our great conversation with Adam Smith of the Tampa Bay Times on Florida politics.