What a Florida House Race Says About Democrats’ Ad Strategy

Democrat Josh Weil may have failed to flip a House seat in a deep-red Florida congressional district on Tuesday. But his ad makers say the race still yields an important lesson in style as Democrats look to regroup ahead of the 2026 midterms. 

In his campaign’s first TV ad, which went on the air in early March, the Osceola County school teacher and Democratic nominee for Florida’s 6th District is billed as a “patriot,” a “badass teacher” and “now, a badass candidate for Congress,” as shots of a tattooed Weil flash across the screen. 

“I’m Josh Weil. I’m not a career politician. I’m a math teacher and I know the numbers aren’t adding up for Florida families,” Weil says in the 30-second spot. “I’ll work to lower the cost of groceries and always protect Social Security. I approve this message because it’s been too long since someone fought for you.”

The ad was a collaborative effort between Scott Turner of newly launched Crescendo Creative and Mark Longabaugh, the longtime progressive ad maker and top strategist for Sen. Bernie Sanders’, I-Vt., 2016 presidential campaign. 

Turner and Longabaugh told C&E that they wanted to approach the campaign in a way that was “authentic” to Weil and embraced the style of a “badass candidate.” The end result of that first ad, Turner said, is something that “felt different – something that even felt a little bit Republican.” 

“Throughout the process, we really wanted to find an approach that spoke to Josh Weil and was authentic to him, but also felt different,” Turner said. “We wanted something that could own the American flag, own the tough graphics, own the badass tattoos. Not to shy away from it, but to show it.” 

Reclaiming ‘Patriotism’

Turner said that the goal wasn’t to convince voters that Weil was a Republican, or “Republican lite,” but to reclaim “the patriotism and the energy and the fight to do what’s right from the people who try to make us look like the bad guys.”

Longabaugh, who launched a new firm called 1788 Media earlier this year, said that the style of the TV spot came from the candidate himself, recalling how Weil told him that he wanted something with a tougher style and tone.

“Good advertising always is a great collaborative effort, especially working with the candidate,” Longabaugh said. “Josh said to us early on, you know, ‘I don’t want any wimpy Democratic ads. Democrats have a tendency to produce these soft ads.’ And I said ‘I got you and I hear you and we’ll step up and change that.’ ”

Weil ultimately lost a Tuesday special election to Republican Randy Fine, a former Florida state senator backed by President Donald Trump. 

But the race still carried some positive news for Democrats. Fine won by 14 points – or less than 30,000 votes – in a district that Trump carried in November by more than 30 points. Weil also trounced Fine in fundraising, pulling in nearly $10 million as of March 12, according to his latest filing with the Federal Election Commission. Fine raised just shy of $1 million in that same period.

The lesson for Democratic and progressive ad makers, according to Turner and Longabaugh: worry less about poll testing and sticking to party messaging and think more about style and authenticity.

“As we look forward here, I want to prioritize emotional precision,” Turner told C&E. “It can’t just be about messaging discipline. We’re past the point where being on-message is enough. Voters respond to authenticity and intensity and clarity.” 

‘A Stylistic Issue’ for Democrats

Longabaugh said that while Democrats and progressives have carved out a niche for themselves based on policy, they’ve struggled to connect with voters – especially swing voters and working class Americans – on a cultural level.

“In the bigger picture, there’s a stylistic issue that Democrats have as a whole,” Longabaugh said. “Take away message for a second, and think about it in terms of style and culture and connection with voters, especially swing voters and working class voters. What we strived to do here is to be a little more aggressive.”

“If you want to appeal to Democrats and working class voters and even some Republicans…you have to stylistically and culturally communicate with voters where they are,” he added. “Democrats have a hard time doing that sometimes.”

Longabaugh also said that Democratic ads should be more aggressive in not only pushing back against Republican efforts to cast the party as “un-American,” but in trying to turn the tables on the GOP. Another TV spot from Weil’s campaign that aired last March went on the attack against Fine, calling him “unhinged and anti-American” and tying him to potential Republican-led cuts to entitlement programs, like Social Security and Medicaid.

“Democrats need to be tougher about engaging definitions and debate,” he said. “[Republicans] want to call us un-American all the time. Why don’t we create a definition that makes them the un-American ones?”