While Democrats turned out in record numbers for the November General Election, it wasn’t nearly enough to overcome the Republican juggernaut in Florida.
Overseas Democrats did their part to buck the trend. Preliminary estimates are that more than 51,000 Florida voters abroad cast absentee ballots. Of those, there were 25,000 Democrats, 15,200 NPAs (independents), and 10,400 Republicans.
Donald Trump won the state by 13 points, better than any candidate since George H.W. Bush defeated Michael Dukakis in 1988. Rick Scott won his US Senate race by a similar margin, the first time he’s won by double-digits, and a far cry from his 2018 victory of less than 0.2%.
There were no changes in the Florida Congressional delegation, with all 28 seats remaining with the same party. This is in no small part due to Ron DeSantis’ personal hand in gerrymandering the districts in 2022, packing Democrats into as few districts as possible, and giving Republicans the majority to the greatest extent possible everywhere else.
In the state legislature, Democrats had a net loss of one seat in the House of Representatives, meaning that the Republicans will continue to hold a super-majority, allowing them to bypass procedural rules that could benefit Democrats.
Across the state, Floridians are still demanding more housing, relief from the skyrocketing costs of housing and home insurance, access to affordable healthcare (including abortion and pre-natal care), and worry about the increasing and dramatic environmental driven impacts of hurricanes. Florida's burgeoning senior population faces perhaps some of the worst impacts, with an increasing number facing poverty and homelessness. In Miami-Dade County, the average monthly rent is $2,100, while the average Social Security (government pension) is $14,691 per year. Housing is an issue world-wide, as are climate concerns, but our members living in countries with affordable healthcare and elder care can only be shaking their heads. Yet Florida voters said they wanted more of the same, leaving the Republicans in control of the state.
The few bright spots include the Democratic turnout, and that several of the state legislative races were decided by small margins, in some cases just a a few hundred votes. This underscores the importance for overseas voters to make certain to register, request their ballots, and vote!
As a post-election note, Congressional Districts 1 and 6 will soon have special elections. Florida’s national embarrassment, Matt Gaetz, has resigned from Congress, having been nominated for US Attorney General. Michael Waltz has been tapped as Trump’s National Security Advisor.
Please remember that the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature passed new voting laws that require purging all absentee ballot requests at the end of 2024. You must submit a new FPCA in January, 2025 at https://VoteFromAbroad.org in order to receive a ballot for any elections in your district, including the two special Congressional elections and any other special elections that may be called.