Florida Man wins the presidency

Nov 06, 2024

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Donald Trump is at his election night watch party in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024.

Donald Trump is at his election night watch party in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. | Alex Brandon/AP

Good morning and welcome to the day after the election.

The Florida curse is broken. Florida has never sent a president to the White House. Until now.

Former President Donald Trump has officially become the president-elect. Sure, he’s originally from New York. But many Floridians who live here come from somewhere else.

Trump easily won his home state last night, which was called right around 8 p.m. The win included Miami-Dade, a county that a Republican presidential candidate hasn’t won since George H.W. Bush in 1988.

Going on from there, Florida itself faced another red wave last night. Gov. Ron DeSantis may not have been the one at the top of the ballot, but his fingerprints were all over the results here in Florida. The governor scored big wins after amendments on overturning the state’s six-week abortion ban and legalizing recreational pot both cleared majority support, but fell short of reaching the 60 percent threshold needed for passage. The governor threw himself and the heft of state government into the effort to defeat both.

Florida is the biggest state to reject a referendum on abortion since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, at a time when many other Republicans tried to distance themselves from taking a stance one way or another on the issue. (Some abortion measures across the nation remain uncalled.) The defeat means Florida’s law banning most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy remains in place. And by defeating the legalization of recreational marijuana , DeSantis also won a proxy war against Trump, who said he would be voting to legalize.

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) had his easiest reelection yet, winning Florida by about 13 points. Hanging onto the seat helped the GOP win a majority in the Senate . “Florida is the center of the Republican Party. … We are the best melting pot in the world,” Scott said during his acceptance speech, before breaking into Spanish.

Scott then turned to what's next. “Our work is not done. Next week, we have another election: Senate Republican leader,” Scott said onstage at his victory party, hosted at the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point in Bonita Springs. Supporters in the audience held up signs that read “Scott for GOP Leader” and chanted his name.

Democrats also failed to flip any House seats here, with GOP Rep. Anna Paulina Luna easily winning reelection. No other House seat flipped in Florida either, but the 13th District was the only nominally competitive one. Overall control of the House remains uncalled.

Things also did not improve for Democrats in the Legislature , though some seats are still being tabulated. “The results locked in a Republican supermajority in both the Senate and House for another two years,” writes POLITICO’s Gary Fineout.

Republicans knocked out Democratic Rep. Tom Keen, who had been elected in a January special election on a platform focused on property insurance and abortion rights. Republican Erika Booth prevailed during the rematch. Republican Meg Weinberger won her election for state House District 94’s open seat, in Palm Beach County. GOP state Rep. Peggy Gossett-Seidman kept her seat.

GOP state Sen. Corey Simon also managed to hang onto the most contested seat in the upper chamber, for District 3.

Finally, the results were split among state attorneys who DeSantis had suspended from office. Monique Worrell won her seat back in Orange-Osceola, while Andrew Warren lost his reelection in Hillsborough County to state attorney Suzy Lopez, who’d been appointed to replace him.

As Fineout writes : “Democrats had hoped during the 2024 elections to take some gradual steps to regain relevancy in the Sunshine State, but the results could reignite ongoing debates about what the party needs to do to become competitive again.”

Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget that Playbook should look at? Get in touch at: kleonard@politico.com.

A message from Uber:

Thank You, Florida Uber Drivers For stepping up during Hurricanes Milton and Helene by helping thousands of Floridians get to shelters and support centers. Your efforts helped keep our communities safe. Learn how Uber drivers stepped up.

CAMPAIGN MODE

KEY AMENDMENT RESULTS

AMENDMENT 1 — “Florida rejects proposal to make school board races partisan,” reports POLITICO’s Andrew Atterbury . “Florida voters rejected a constitutional amendment proposed by Republicans to add party labels on local school board elections, the Associated Press projected, amid the ongoing culture wars fighting in education. Amendment 1, which aimed to scrub the nonpartisan veneer off school board contests that are already influenced by political parties, fell short of the 60 percent threshold it needed to pass. This idea, while backed by Republicans, received little to no attention from the party leading up to the election, with high-profile ballot measures on abortion and marijuana soaking up GOP’s time and resources.”

AMENDMENT 2 — “Florida voters approve hunting and fishing rights amendment,” reports POLITICO’s Bruce Ritchie. “Amendment supporters said the measure is needed to stem a tide of anti-hunting sentiment across the country. Hunting or fishing rights have been established in 23 states, according to Ballotpedia.”

AMENDMENT 5 AND 6 — “In two under-the-radar votes, Florida voters on Tuesday signed off a measure that would allow the state to adjust the homestead exemption annually for inflation, The Associated Press projected,” reported POLITICO’s Gary Fineout. “But voters rejected a bid by the GOP-controlled Legislature to scrap the system of using taxpayer money to help pay for campaigns, The AP also projected. The tax measure — Amendment 5 — easily cleared the 60-percent threshold it needed to pass.”

TRICKLING DOWN — “Republican candidates ride Trump wave to victories up and down Miami-Dade’s ballot,” reports the Miami Herald’s Joey Flechas and Jacqueline Charles . “For property appraiser, voters chose former Miami Mayor Tomás Regalado. With Trump’s endorsement, Rosanna ‘Rosie’ Cordero-Stutz won a widely watched race for sheriff, the first election for sheriff since the 1960s. State Rep. Alina Garcia won the race for supervisor of elections. Business owner Dariel Fernandez won his race for tax collector.”

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TRUMPLANDIA AND THE SWAMP

Donald Trump gives a thumbs-up as Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance speaks at their election night watch party in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Nov. 6, 2024.

Donald Trump gives a thumbs-up as Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance speaks at their election night watch party in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Nov. 6, 2024. | Alex Brandon/AP

HOW TRUMP SPENT ELECTION DAY IN FLORIDA

— The former president voted around noon at his precinct in Palm Beach, where he shared that he thought his 2024 campaign was “the best of the three.”

Trump also got asked about how he voted on the abortion amendment, but he declined to answer after saying several months ago that he would vote against it. “Stop talking about that,” he said when pressed.

— Trump then had smaller gatherings at Mar-a-Lago as the election results rolled in. Among the guests: son-in-law Jared Kushner and daughter Ivanka Trump, Tucker Carlson, Elon Musk, New York Jets owner Woody Johnson, billionaire Trump supporters John Paulson, Steve Wynn, transition co-chair Howard Lutnick, investor Herbie Wertheim, Australian heiress Gina Rinehart, pro golfer Bryson DeChambeau, pro fighter Colby Covington, and Continental Resources Executive Chair Harold Hamm, according to POLITICO’s Meridith McGraw and Ben Lefebvre.

— He appeared at the Palm Beach County Convention Center at 2:25 a.m. to address supporters. “This will forever be remembered as the day the American people regained control of their country,” Trump said onstage surrounded by his family. JD Vance took the stage at one point and called the campaign the “greatest political comeback in American history.” Trump also called Susie Wiles, the Florida political operative who ran his campaign, to the stage. “Susie likes to stand in the background,” Trump said. “She’s not in the background.”

WHAT’S NEXT — “Trump campaign adviser said transition team will operate out of Florida if he wins,” reports Antonio Fins of the Palm Beach Post. “A campaign adviser said should Donald Trump win the presidency on election night, his transition program will begin immediately — and will be run out of Mar-a-Lago and South Florida … [Corey] Lewandowski said lessons were learned and, unlike eight years ago, a second Trump administration will be ready to govern on Jan. 20, 2025.

...HURRICANE HOLE...

FORECAST — “Hurricane Rafael strengthens in the Caribbean as it heads toward Cuba,” by The New York Times’ John Keefe and Judson Jones. “Hurricane Rafael moved through the Caribbean early Wednesday, strengthening rapidly as it passed the Cayman Islands. It was forecast to become a Category 2 storm before making landfall in Cuba later in the day, and lash the region with heavy rain and powerful winds over the next several days as it heads north into the Gulf of Mexico.”

ODDS, ENDS AND FLORIDA MEN

BIRTHDAYS: Rick McAllister, former CEO/President of Florida Retail Federation.

A message from Uber:

Thank You, Florida Uber Drivers

In the face of Hurricanes Milton and Helene, Uber drivers gave Floridians rides to shelters and support centers. We thank the thousands of Uber drivers who went above and beyond, ensuring that during a time of crisis, no one was left behind. Your dedication made a difference when it mattered most. Learn how Uber drivers stepped up.