Election Day is over in Florida. Here are some of the highlights from the results
Florida went red on Election Day in such a decisive manner the Sunshine State’s map turned the color of a raging sunburn in most key races.
The Miami Herald’s front page Wednesday morning screamed “Florida goes all in for GOP.”
How so? Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis soundly trounced Democratic challenger and former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, with nearly 60% of the votes, a spread topping about 1.5 million votes. Sen. Marco Rubio won reelection Tuesday, easily besting Democratic opponent Val Demings. Republicans secured a solid majority in the Florida House of Representatives and the Florida Senate Tuesday.
Race-by-race results: Click here for all the statewide and South Florida election results
By winning a supermajority in both state chambers, taking three open Senate and five open House seats, the victories give GOP leaders “unfettered control over the legislative process with the largest majorities in a decade,” according to Miami Herald reporting.
READ MORE: Republicans sweep Florida Cabinet races: Moody, Patronis, Simpson win
Governor’s victory
DeSantis’ definitive victory over Crist sets Florida up for a historical first: a sitting governor in the Sunshine State entering the race for the White House. That scenario has never happened in the state’s 177 years since gaining statehood.
DeSantis has not announced that he plans to run for president in 2024. But according to six political strategists interviewed by the Herald/Times, DeSantis is poised to seek the Republican nomination for the nation’s highest office
READ MORE: Florida Gov. DeSantis’ victory secures star status. Next up: When to run for president
Senate races
▪ Rubio’s trouncing of Demmings by about 16 percentage points and more than a million votes makes the 51-year-old the first Republican U.S. senator in Florida history to win a third term in office.
Thank you #Florida pic.twitter.com/3pZePlxaHA
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) November 9, 2022
READ MORE: Red wave sweeps in supermajorities in Florida Legislature
House races
▪ U.S. Rep. María Elvira Salazar, who beat Donna Shalala to get this seat in 2020, gets a second term representing Florida’s 27th Congressional District. Salazar, a former journalist born in Little Havana, defeated state Sen. Annette Taddeo in a margin of about 57% to 43%, according to The Associated Press.
READ MORE: Incumbents romp in South Florida congressional races, and Moskowitz wins a seat
Florida constitutional amendments
▪ A majority of Florida voters appeared to support three state constitutional amendments to the Florida Constitution, but with 99% of precincts reporting by Wednesday morning, none managed to hit the required 60% threshold for the changes to be approved.
READ MORE: Florida constitutional amendments: Votes fall short for property tax cuts
School boards
▪ Miami-Dade chose its board leaders in the August primary, with Roberto Alonso and Monica Colucci winning seats in victories that topped the need for a runoff on Tuesday.
▪ Miami-Dade voters overwhelmingly approved the Miami-Dade Schools’ $400 million referendum to boost teacher pay and hire more school safety personnel, with about 65% of the vote, and all precincts reporting.
▪ In Broward County, four school board seats were on the ballot. Voters ushered in a new era for their School Board by electing three new members to replace three whom Gov. DeSantis had appointed while a longtime board member suspended by DeSantis in August remains locked in a tight race with her challenger.
