ORLANDO, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis was easily reelected to a second term Tuesday, spearheading a Republican red wave in Florida that swept all four Cabinet positions and the U.S. Senate race.
DeSantis had 57.1% of the vote to Democrat Charlie Crist’s 42.2%, the first time a Florida governor’s race was decided by more than a point or so since Crist’s victory as a Republican in 2006.
DeSantis’ win is the seventh straight Republican victory in the governor’s race dating back to 1998 and appears to cement the state’s shift from an evenly split swing state into a solidly Republican one.
Democrats had come close in 2010, 2014 and 2018, losing by narrower margins each time. DeSantis defeated Democrat Andrew Gillum by just 0.4 points after having trailed in most polls.
This time, there was no real drama as DeSantis led most polls by healthy margins.
DeSantis’ victory also could set the stage for a run for president in 2024. He did not answer when Crist asked at last month’s lone debate whether he would serve a full term in reelected, and his culture war fights and increased national profile as an exemplar of “freedom” from any anti-COVID measures have long been thought to be a precursor to a White House bid.
But the man who almost single-handedly boosted DeSantis’ governor hopes in 2018, former President Donald Trump, is reportedly planning to make his own announcement sometime this month.
Trump called the governor “Ron DeSanctimonious” at an event in Ohio on Saturday, a throwback to his insults and nicknames of GOP primary opponents in 2016.
Trump got some pushback from conservatives about attacking DeSantis just days before his election and, in Miami on Sunday he finally endorsed him for governor. But DeSantis was not invited to Trump’s rally for U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio.
Crist had been making his second attempt as a Democrat to regain the governor’s mansion he held as a Republican, having previously lost by one point to then-Gov. Rick Scott in 2014.
Crist, who served in Congress from St. Petersburg from 2017 to this year, defeated Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried in the Democratic primary in August by 25 points. Fried, who passed up running for reelection to try for governor, had been the only statewide elected Democrat since 2012.
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