DeSantis says GOP hit by political meteor
Florida’s governor said the state held the line while Democrats surged nationally, blaming local leadership for the GOP’s losses in the state House.
By Dominic Foster ·
Governor Ron DeSantis described the national election results as a catastrophic blow to the Republican Party.
Speaking to reporters at the Capitol on Wednesday, the governor said the Democratic victory was not a wave but a sudden impact.
"Last night we witnessed, to call it a wave I don’t think would be really accurate. It’s the political equivalent of a meteor strike that went all around the United States, blue states, red states and everything in between," DeSantis said.
Democrats took control of the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House by wide margins. Voters in Texas, Kansas, and South Carolina rejected Republican candidates, driven by dissatisfaction with President Donald Trump’s management of inflation and the Iran war.
Florida Republicans kept statewide offices and maintained their U.S. House margin, though they lost their supermajority in the state Legislature. DeSantis credited his record and a recent property tax cut proposal for protecting the state from the national trend.
"The question is why did Florida hold up? Why did we hold the line? The answer is that we’ve built up a record of achievement, we’ve earned trust from a number of our voters," DeSantis said.
The governor pointed to former House Speaker Daniel Perez for the state GOP’s setback. Perez, a Miami Republican, clashed with DeSantis on issues like an AI Bill of Rights and medical freedom measures. DeSantis said the GOP lost a net of 15 seats because of how House members behaved under Perez’s leadership.
"There’s a lot of great House members. But how they behaved over the last two years was not acceptable, and they had a rotten Speaker, and there was a lot of problems there so it just it what it is. I can’t bail them out of their behavior," DeSantis said.
Florida Democrats celebrated a historic shift in the state House. The GOP advantage dropped to roughly 70-50 seats, pending final counts. This would mark the fewest Republicans in that chamber since the party took control in the 1990s.
Rep. Christine Hunschofsky, D-Parkland, who will serve as House Democratic Leader, said the party changed the balance of power in Tallahassee. "Florida voters made history last night, and they changed the balance of power in Tallahassee," Hunschofsky said.
Nikki Fried, the Florida Democratic Party chair, said the close statewide races prove the state is competitive. Republicans won the governor, Senate, and Cabinet races by three points or less. "We accomplished all of this without major national investment here in our state," Fried said.
DeSantis cautioned that the Democratic win reflects national sentiment rather than a lasting shift in voter loyalty. He said the Democrats benefited from a rejection of Republicans in Washington. "This was not a positive view of the Democrats. This was a rejection of Republicans in Washington and Democrats just happened to be the beneficiary," DeSantis said.
