LOOKING BACK: Ron DeSantis’s Revolutionary Transformation of Florida

UPDATE 3.27.24: After Ron DeSantis transformed Florida’s political landscape, he has been steadily chipping away at passing conservative legislation. See here, here, here, and here for a start. Read more about DeSantis here.

Originally posted January 9, 2023.

While Washington, D.C. politics have been filled with drama, it’s important to remember the revolution Ron DeSantis has rallied in Florida politics. At the Washington Free Beacon, Collin Anderson reports on the power of DeSantis’s win:

Under the leadership of Governor Ron DeSantis, Florida Republicans enjoyed historic wins Tuesday night, both at the top of the ticket and down the ballot. Here are some of the numbers showing just how strong their performance was:

1,474,618 — That’s the difference between DeSantis’s 2018 and 2022 margins of victory. DeSantis beat Democrat Charlie Crist by a whopping 1.5 million votes Tuesday, just four years after his 30,000-vote victory over Democrat Andrew Gillum.

62 — That’s how many counties DeSantis carried out of 67. He lost nearly triple that number of counties—13—in 2018.

2002 — That’s the year Republicans last won a majority of voters in historically blue Miami-Dade County. DeSantis carried the county by double digits Tuesday, just six years after Democrat Hillary Clinton won it by 30 points in 2016.

150 — That’s roughly how many years it’s been since Republicans last held all statewide elected positions in Florida, a milestone the party achieved Tuesday night for the first time since the Reconstruction era. At that time, in the early-to-mid 1870s, Republican Marcellus Stearns led the state as governor following his party mate Ossian B. Hart’s death in 1874. The state’s Senate delegation, meanwhile, consisted of Republicans Simon B. Conover and Abijah Gilbert before Democrat Charles W. Jones’s election in 1875.

35 — That’s how many days it took to determine a winner in Florida’s 2000 presidential election. On Tuesday, the Associated Press called the race for DeSantis one hour after polls closed.

28 and 85 — That’s the number of seats Republicans hold in the state Senate and House out of 40 and 120 respectively, giving them a veto-proof margin in both chambers that significantly limits Democrats’ legislative power.

15 — That’s how many hours it took for the Democratic Progressive Caucus of Florida to call for Florida Democratic Party chair Manny Diaz’s resignation following Tuesday night’s result.