Why did Gary Peters win but Bill Nelson lose?

[Tekken_Guy]

Two really close senate races. Why did Gary Peters win but Bill Nelson lose? Peters was a no-name but Nelson was practically an institution.

[GALeftist]

Michigan is trending right slower than Florida.

[Mr.Phips]

Bill Nelson didn’t have Biden pulling him across the finish line.  Michigan is probably the one state where Biden’s coattails helped pull a candidate across the finish line.  Had Trump won Michigan, I’m confident James would have won.

[TML]

In terms of relative favorability, Peters led James but Nelson trailed Scott.

[KaiserDave]

Does Bill Nelson drive a motorcycle?
I thought not

[Xing]

Does Bill Nelson drive a motorcycle?
I thought not

The motorcycle alone wouldn’t have been enough. The beard is what sealed the deal.

[Benjamin Frank]

Rick Scott had $64 million of his own money to spend on the race.

[TiltsAreUnderrated]

Peters also wasn't asleep at the wheel in the final stretch. His campaign might not have been particularly effective, but at least he tried; Nelson had $3m in the bank at the campaigns' end and his fundraising was never insane to begin with.

[Red Wall]

Michigan is less Republican than Florida. In the end both are just proof of the full generification of Senate elections. Even incumbents are generics now.

[RRusso1982]

Michigan is less Republican than Florida. In the end both are just proof of the full generification of Senate elections. Even incumbents are generics now.

Susan Collins would disagree with that.

[kwabbit]

Michigan is less Republican than Florida. In the end both are just proof of the full generification of Senate elections. Even incumbents are generics now.

Susan Collins would disagree with that.

It's a lot harder to build a powerful brand in a state with 8 times the population. Collins might have met a large chunk of the electorate personally in her time in the senate, something that is not possible in Michigan.

[Frenchrepublican]

Because MI has a stubborn dem lean.

Some people forget it but no republican has won a federal race in MI since 1994 except for Trump who barely won it by 10k votes in 2016.

[Red Wall]

Michigan is less Republican than Florida. In the end both are just proof of the full generification of Senate elections. Even incumbents are generics now.

Susan Collins would disagree with that.

When talking about Collins I named her one of the five exceptions alongside Manchin, Klob, Brown and Tester. But despite her impressive win she also got generified to an extent. Also she started from a way higher point, used to win 20 point landslides. Bill Nelson wasn't a generic in 2012 then became one in 2018 with many new voters who had no idea who he is which made it even worse. Gary Peters was always a generic, people labled him as safe exactly because of that but he nearly got caught napping and ran worse than Biden.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Cause Michigan is more Democratic than Florida

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

Because Rick Scott had #MiamiDadeCubans and #KissimmeePuertoRicans, and John James had a state where Hispanics are ~3% of the electorate.

[Frenchrepublican]

Because Rick Scott had #MiamiDadeCubans and #KissimmeePuertoRicans, and John James had a state where Hispanics are ~3% of the electorate.

On the 20th January 2021 Trump will leave DC for Miami, there he will proclaim the independance of Florida, after that he will declare himself Caudillo de Florida por la gracia de dios. #FloridaLibre

[KaiserDave]

Because Rick Scott had #MiamiDadeCubans and #KissimmeePuertoRicans, and John James had a state where Hispanics are ~3% of the electorate.

On the 20th January 2021 Trump will leave DC for Miami, there he will proclaim the independance of Florida, after that he will declare himself Caudillo de Florida por la gracia de dios. #FloridaLibre

I hope so

#BugsBunnydidnothingwrong

[Pollster]

Rick Scott spent millions of dollars of his own money turning out every last Republican voter he could get his hands on, many of whom already knew him, liked him, and had already voted for him twice before, in a state where Republicans win far more statewide elections than they do in Michigan.