Republicans lose supermajority in Florida House

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. —

Florida Republicans had plenty to celebrate Tuesday night, with Byron Donalds winning the governor’s race and appointed Sen. Ashley Moody holding onto her seat, as well as victories in all three Cabinet races: Agriculture commissioner, chief financial officer, and attorney general.

But enough of the 8,271,667 voters who turned out (60.4%) also delivered a strong message that sent shockwaves to the Republican Party across the country, handing control of the U.S. House and Senate to Democrats.

“This is as close to an extinction-level event for Republicans in many parts of the country as we have seen, probably in the last 100 years,” remarked Gov. Ron DeSantis during a Wednesday morning news conference in Tallahassee.

He also commented on the best election night for Democratic state House and Senate candidates in decades. The most shocking local result might be Maitland Mayor John Lowndes’ victory over Republican District 10 State Senator Jason Brodeur, who lost despite the governor’s endorsement. DeSantis characterized the loss this way, “He got caught up in a wave where people were coming out and they were going to vote “D” (Democrat) down the ballot.”

Voters in the district that includes all of Seminole and part of Orange counties may have backed Lowndes following Brodeur’s support earlier this year for an amendment to a bill that would have weakened protections for land inside the voter-approved rural boundary.

Statewide, voters flipped 16 state House seats from red to blue, including at least five in Central Florida, mostly in Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties. The House District 33 race in south Brevard County between Republican Monique Miller and Democrat Daniel McDow is so far too close to call.

Among those in the Orlando metro area, Republican incumbents who lost their seats included Apopka’s Doug Bankson in District 39, Orlando’s Erika Booth in District 35, and Lake Mary’s Rachel Plakon in District 36.

Plakon, wife of former state representative Scott Plakon, was beaten by Darryl Block, who says the choice for voters was easy. He added, “The affordability crisis is crushing us all. Now that Amendment 3 passed, we’re worried about our communities and funding, and so I think what happened here, and rural boundaries, so I think what happened here is the people of my District said we need new leadership and we need new representation in Tallahassee.”

Democrat and Florida House District 43 winner, Samuel Vilchez Santiago, also chairs the Orange County Democratic executive committee. He predicts another blue wave in 2028, during the next Presidential election, adding, “I think when we do the work to reach out to voters, they understand what’s at stake, who the candidates are and why we are running, I think you help voters think about who they need to vote for and why.”

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