ORLANDO, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis was easily reelected to a second term Tuesday, spearheading a Republican red wave in Florida that swept all the Cabinet positions and the U.S. Senate race.
DeSantis had 59.3% of the vote to Democrat Charlie Crist’s 40%, a massive margin that marks 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.
“We faced attacks, we took the hits, we weathered the storms, we stood our ground, we did not back down,” DeSantis said at his victory party in Tampa. “... We made promises to the people of Florida and we have delivered on those promises. So today, after four years, people have delivered their verdict. Freedom is here to stay.”
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 even won the former Democratic strongholds of Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties.
“It’s clearly apparent that this election we will have garnered a significant number of votes from people who may not have voted for me four years ago,” DeSantis said. “I just want to let you know, I am honored to have earned your trust and your support.
“Thanks to the overwhelming support of the people of Florida, we not only won an election, we have rewritten the political map,” DeSantis said. “Thank you for honoring us with a win for the ages.”
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 as soon as next week.
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.
DeSantis left the door open to a potential run in his victory speech.
“We’ve accomplished more than anybody thought possible four years ago, but we’ve got so much more to do,” DeSantis said. “And I have only begun to fight.”
After running as a conservative firebrand, DeSantis came into office following his narrow win in 2018 as a more moderate governor than expected, gaining some bipartisan praise.
But the COVID-19 pandemic was a turning point. After following the lead of the Trump administration and locking down the state for a month, DeSantis increasingly made resistance to anti-COVID measures the centerpiece of his administration.
Even his initial campaign to promote COVID vaccines in early 2021 ultimately petered out as he started to take advice from vaccine skeptics, including his controversial pick for surgeon general, Joseph Ladapo.
DeSantis became a conservative superstar, welcoming them to “the free state of Florida” in his speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2021 and traveling the country to rally voters for Republican candidates from Pennsylvania to Arizona.
He also waded into the culture wars with his backing of the “Stop W.O.K.E.” Act which banned critical race theory in schools; the controversial bill slammed as “don’t say gay” by critics that banned discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity in schools up to the third grade and limits it to “age-appropriate” students in higher grades; and his administration’s targeting of transgender students and athletes.
DeSantis spoke about his fight against “woke” forces as if he was paraphrasing Winston Churchill.
“We reject woke ideology,” DeSantis said to cheers. “We fight the woke in the Legislature, we fight the woke in the schools, we fight the woke in the corporations, we will never ever surrender to the woke.”
This year, DeSantis also signed a 15-week abortion ban with no exceptions for rape or incest, and has been quiet so far as to whether he would push for a stricter ban in 2023.
DeSantis removed the state attorney of Hillsborough County, Andrew Warren after Warren signed a statement opposing the new law.
The move was one of several controversial decisions by DeSantis in the leadup to the election, including flights of Venezuelan migrants to Martha’s Vineyard from Texas in September.
The flights are being investigated by local Texas law enforcement and the U.S. Department of Treasury. But DeSantis has not shied away from it on the campaign trail.
“Nobody was talking about this issue until that happened,” he told the crowd at a rally in Oviedo on Saturday. “Now, everybody’s talking about it.”
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.
Crist gave a brief concession speech in his hometown of St. Petersburg.
“It’s been an absolute blessing to serve as your governor and to serve as the congressman from my hometown,” Crist said. “I feel like the most blessed man ever.”
“I’m a happy man, and I am at peace,” Crist said. “And I’m grateful to all of you. And I just wish you all the very best.”
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