By Michael Moline | Editor in Chief
“This should not be treated as a victory lap for Gov. DeSantis. This was the worst election cycle in Florida in decades. He could’ve saved countless down ballot races by helping boost GOP turnout.”— Dan Weldon, failed GOP candidate for Florida House
Gov. Ron DeSantis hosted a news conference on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026, at the Florida Capitol following the midterm elections. (Photo by Jay Waagmeester/Florida Phoenix)
Here’s a big reason Republicans narrowly retained control of statewide elected positions last week: They had 1.55 million more registered voters than Democrats did and turned out 62.6% of them; Florida Democrats turned out at a rate of 68.4%. Just shy of 50% of the rest of registered voters turned out, compiling an overall 60.8% turnout rate. In 2022, the state reported that 54% of eligible voters cast ballots in the General Election. In 2018, 63% voted, and in 2014, 51%. “When you have a 1.5 million edge, even though you have a plummeting turnout rate, which Republicans did, you could still lose a lot but still win,” Susan MacManus, political science professor emerita at the University of South Florida, said.
Last week’s “historically forceful rebuke of Trump and his agenda” will prompt a yet undetermined response from Republicans, says Marc Farinella of the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy. After a decade of near-total control by Trump and the MAGA movement, the decisive GOP losses could free some Republicans to return to more centrist policies, he said. “To me, it’s the big outstanding question coming out of the election. How will the congressional Republicans and how will the Republicans in state legislatures now feel about the latitude they have or don’t have in terms of their own policy preferences?”
“The presidential race in 2028 may bring another Democratic opportunity in Florida,” columnist Diane Roberts writes. “Ashley Moody must run again to keep her U.S. Senate seat. It’s possible she’ll again face Angie Nixon. Given the stinking miasma of the Trump administration will still be hanging over Republicans in general, and Moody in particular, Nixon could prevail this time. Perhaps the Florida Democratic Party — long a by-word for dysfunction — will look across the border at Georgia, where Black women hold the top state offices, and learn.”
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