TALLAHASSEE — Florida Republican leaders are swaggering after bolstering their supermajority in the state House, maintaining a supermajority in the Senate and playing an outsized role in squashing two high-profile ballot proposals Tuesday.
As part of a red wave, President-elect Donald Trump routed Vice President Kamala Harris by more than 13 percentage points in Florida — a double-digit boost from his three-point win over President Joe Biden in Florida four years ago.
State Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, a former chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, took a victory lap Wednesday morning.
He called the GOP’s wins up and down the ballot in Florida and other states — and taking control of the U.S. Senate — “a wholesale repudiation of Democrat policies and Democrat policy proposals.”
“The second thing is that the voters have a mandate that they want a wrecking ball taken to the swamp that is Washington, D.C., and Donald Trump is their preferred choice of that wrecking ball, because they know he’s going to go up, go up there and smash the status quo,” Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill, told The News Service of Florida.
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Ingoglia also credited Gov. Ron DeSantis with the defeat of two ballot measures, which the governor targeted in a state-backed opposition campaign. One of the proposals would have allowed recreational marijuana and the other would have enshrined abortion rights in the state Constitution. Both measures received majority approval from voters, but neither reached the 60 percent threshold required to pass.
Ingoglia also pointed to the Hillsborough County state attorney’s race, saying DeSantis was responsible for “getting Suzy Lopez across the finish line” in a “blue county.” Lopez defeated Democrat Andrew Warren, who was state attorney before he was suspended by DeSantis in 2022. DeSantis replaced Warren with Lopez, a former judge.
The governor “has proven once again … that he is the most dominant political figure in governor history, I believe in the United States,” Ingoglia said.
Tuesday’s elections put the kibosh on any discussion about Florida being a swing state, Ingoglia indicated.
“This state has been red. It is now deep red. I actually get surprised when I see Democrats get elected at any level of government here,” Ingoglia said.
TALLYING UP SCHOOL RACES
Florida voters rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that would have led to partisan school-board races, but four school-board candidates running Tuesday with DeSantis’ support picked up wins.
DeSantis in July put out a list of 23 school-board candidates he was supporting, with many races decided in the August primaries. Four of the six remaining candidates on the list scored victories Tuesday, including Miami-Dade County School Board member Mary Blanco, who easily defeated Maxene “Max” Tuchman.
Blanco was appointed to the board in January by DeSantis to replace a member who resigned. Tuchman was one of 11 school-board candidates the Florida Democratic Party endorsed before the primaries. Seven Democratic-endorsed candidates won in the primaries.
DeSantis landed six victories in the primaries, while 11 of his other endorsed candidates got rejected by voters, including three who went up against Democratic-backed candidates.
On Tuesday, DeSantis’ other school board victories were in Lee County, where Vanessa Chaviano won by more than 38 percentage points; in Brevard County, as School Board member Matt Susin was re-elected by 19 percentage points; and in Volusia County, with Donna Brosemer winning by 17 percentage points over a longtime incumbent.
DeSantis’ defeats occurred in Hernando County, where Mark Coiffi lost to Michelle Bonczek, and Pinellas County, where Stacy Geier lost to Katie Blaxberg.
The Republican-controlled Legislature put a proposal, Amendment 1, on Tuesday’s ballot that sought to shift from non-partisan to partisan school-board races. The proposal received support from 54.9 percent of voters, short of the 60 percent required for passage of constitutional amendments.
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“In the past couple of years we have seen how culture wars have been used to erode freedoms and education; from book bans, to removal of DEI programs, and attacks on LGBTQIA+ students, the defeat of Amendment 1 signifies a huge victory,” Paula Muñoz, executive director of the Amendment 1 opposition group Florida Student Power Network, said in a statement.
THE JOYS OF INCUMBENCY
Incumbents in Florida had a really good night on Tuesday.
U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., was re-elected easily. The 26 members of the congressional delegation seeking re-election held their districts. Just three incumbent legislators — all in the House — were unseated.
Also, the Florida Association of Counties said that of 142 county commissioners before voters on Tuesday, just five lost.
SOCIAL MEDIA POST OF THE WEEK: “We fought the good fight, we kept the faith, and we finished the race. Thanks to @GovRonDeSantis and our great team for everything they sacrificed over the past months to protect our great state from amendments that sought to attack our families and way of life. To other states facing these challenges — you can win, but you must fight!” — James Uthmeier (@JamesUthmeierFL), chief of staff to Gov. Ron DeSantis, after proposed constitutional amendments on recreational marijuana and abortion were defeated.
Other stories you may want to read:
- Backroom Briefing: Taking a Victory Lap - November 8, 2024
- Recreational Pot Proposal Falls Short - November 6, 2024
- GOP Flexes Muscles in Legislative Races - November 6, 2024