DeSantis rolls to decisive reelection victory over Crist. Rubio defeats Demings

Gov. Ron DeSantis overwhelmingly beat Democratic challenger Charlie Crist, an anticipated outcome that punctuates Florida’s political shift to the right.

DeSantis, who is widely believed to be a potential 2024 presidential contender, won a second term as Florida’s governor with a commanding double-digit lead. DeSantis had about 57% of the vote by 8:30 p.m. Tuesday night.

The state’s other nationally watched race between Republican Sen. Marco Rubio and Democratic Rep. Val Demings also appeared settled. Rubio had a comfortable lead with about 56% of the vote and was expected to win a third term in the Senate. Demings made a concession speech in Orlando.

Republicans’ apparent victories in those two races were seen by many as inevitable, with Democrats’ support cratering leading up to Election Day and Republicans building a roughly 300,000 advantage in registered voters. It was the first time in modern political history that Republicans led Democrats in voter registration, eroding the image of a state that has long been viewed as the nation’s most populous swing state.

The Republican sweep ushered victories up and down the ballot, likely sending both chambers in the state Legislature into a super-majority status for Republicans and netting the GOP some key congressional seats amid a battle to control the U.S. House.

As of 8:30 p.m., election results showed some elections were decided, while others were too close to call.

Race-by-race results: Click here for all the statewide and South Florida election results

Congressional races

▪ House District 27: Republican Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, a Cuban-American first-term congresswoman, fended off a challenge from Democratic rival Annette Taddeo, a Colombian-American state senator and former gubernatorial candidate, in the race to represent Miami-Dade County’s Congressional District 27.

The battle to represent the newly redrawn district, which has the largest Hispanic voting age population, was expected to be one of the most competitive races in the state. But early voting results as of 8:30 p.m. indicated Salazar was poised to win reelection by a comfortable margin.

Salazar’s main messages to voters focused on inflation, the economy and her efforts to pass an immigration reform law, while Taddeo zeroed in on affordability, gun safety in schools and access to abortion.

▪ House District 23: Democrat Jared Moskowitz, the state’s former emergency management director, overwhelmingly won his race to represent Florida’s 23rd Congressional District. The seat was vacated by Democratic Rep. Ted Deutch.

Moskowitz was facing Republican Joe Budd and no-party candidates Mark Napier and Christine Scott.

▪ House District 2: Republican Rep. Neal Dunn of Panama City apparently defeated Democrat Rep. Al Lawson of Tallahassee in the race to represent a newly drawn North Florida congressional district, which stretches from west of Tallahassee to Jacksonville.

The battle for House District 2, a Republican-leaning seat won by former President Donald Trump, became high-profile after DeSantis reconfigured Florida’s congressional districts — and eliminated two Black districts, including the one Lawson used to represent.

DeSantis argued Lawson’s former district, which was created in 2015 by the courts by linking communities along the former plantation territories, was “racially gerrymandered.” Lawson, a Black Democrat, criticized DeSantis for “causing a racial divide in the state” and ran against Dunn. a white Republican, in the newly drawn district.

Dunn led Lawson with 54% of the vote as of 8:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Legislative races

▪ Senate District 36: Republican state Sen. Ileana Garcia, the co-founder of Latinas for Trump, defeated Democratic challenger Raquel Pacheco.

Garcia was elected by just 34 votes in 2020, a race that was later revealed to include a “ghost” candidate, Alex Rodriguez, who ran without party affiliation and has since pleaded guilty to his role in the election scheme. Garcia has denied involvement in it and law enforcement officials have said there is no evidence that she knew of the alleged scheme.

Garcia was poised to win reelection on Tuesday night with 59% of the vote as of 8:30 p.m.

▪ House District 113: Republican Vicki Lopez fended off a challenge from Democrat Alessandro “A.J.” D’Amico in the race to represent a central portion of Miami-Dade County, including the cities of Coral Gables, Key Biscayne, and parts of Miami.

Lopez was leading by about 15 percentage points as of 8:30 p.m. Tuesday.

▪ House District 37: Republican Susan Plasencia appeared poised to defeat Democratic incumbent state Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, one of the most vocal and high-profile Democrats in the state Legislature.

Plasencia was leading with 52% of the vote as of 8:30 pm, making it likely that Republican could flip the Central Florida district, which includes parts of Seminole and Orange counties.

Constitutional amendments

▪ Amendment 1: A proposal that could incentivize homeowners to storm-proof their homes was falling short with 56% of the vote as of 8:30 p.m. Tuesday. The amendment, which requires 60% to pass, would authorize the Legislature to pass laws prohibiting flood resistance improvements to a home from being considered in the determination of the property’s assessed property tax value.

▪ Amendment 2: Early voting results showed only 53% of voters favored a proposal to abolish the Florida Constitution Revision Commission, a 37-member body that meets every 20 years to propose changes to the state Constitution and refer them to the statewide ballot for voter approval or rejection. Constitutional amendments require 60% to pass.

▪ Amendment 3: Nearly 58% of Florida voters backed an amendment that would authorize the Legislature to create a new homestead exemption of up to $50,000 for certain public-service employees — including classroom teachers, law enforcement officers and firefighters, paramedics and active duty members of the U.S. Armed Forces. Constitutional amendments require 60% to pass.

The new exemption would be effective Jan. 1, 2023, meaning that property owners in certain professions would be able to subtract $50,000 from the assessed value of their property — except for education taxes — and lower their 2023 tax roll, in addition to the standard $50,000 homestead exemption Floridians already receive on their primary residence.