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Florida wasn’t considered in play Tuesday, and now it’s clear why. The one-time swing state moved even harder to the right as Trump romped to victory and both high-profile ballot initiatives — abortion rights and recreational marijuana — fell short of the required 60 percent necessary to pass.
Donald Trump’s win was sweeping — he flipped Hillsborough and Pinellas counties in the Tampa Bay area; won Jacksonville’s Duval County back after losing it to Biden in 2020; and blew out the doors in Miami-Dade County. Consider this figure: In 2016, Hillary Clinton defeated Trump 63 percent to 34 percent in Miami-Dade. This year, Trump is poised for a 10-point victory, powered in part by Cuban Americans, who in an October FIU poll gave him a 68% approval rating.
Kamala Harris ran behind Joe Biden’s 2020 pace in majority Black Gadsden County (Gov. Ron DeSantis’ worst performing county); Leon County (Tallahassee); Alachua (University of Florida); and Orlando’s Orange County. With 95% of the vote in, Harris was even on a trajectory to lose heavily Puerto Rican Osceola County despite the ‘island of garbage’ controversy.
Here’s how GOP Sen. Rick Scott, who won tonight by the largest margin of his career — 56 percent to 43 percent — framed the evening. “Florida is the center of the Republican Party” he said in Bonita Springs during his acceptance speech, before breaking into Spanish.
Kimberly Leonard in Bonita Beach, Florida, contributed to this report.
