While most of the rest of the country was swamped in a “blue wave” Florida Republicans, led by Byron Donalds, the MAGA Republican Congressman running for Governor, won across the board statewide victories and kept the Free State of Florida free and Republican.
In doing so he is slated to become the first Black governor of Florida.
Donalds, a three-term Republican congressman from Naples, held off a challenge from Republican turncoat Democratic nominee David Jolly to take the Florida governor’s race, results from the state Division of Elections showed early Wednesday morning.
"We are going to make life in Florida more affordable. We are going to keep our streets safe. We are going to invest in our young people so that they can attain the Florida Dream that all of us love so dearly," Donalds said in his victory message.
U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody, the former Florida Attorney General who was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2025 to replace Marco Rubio who left the Senate to became Secretary of State, won with 50.8 percent of the vote. Democratic Socialist Angie Nixon garnered 48.1 percent.
“Throughout this campaign I said that this election would come down to freedom versus socialism. Well, Florida chose freedom,” Moody said at her election night watch party in Tampa.
Likewise, Florida’s cabinet will also remain Republican, with Attorney General James Uthmeier, CFO Blaise Ingoglia and Agricultural Commissioner Wilton Simpson winning reelection.
All incumbent Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives for Florida won reelection, although several races were closer than anticipated.
The GOP also remained firmly in control of the Florida legislature, although whether it retained its supermajority control remained in doubt as of CHQ post time this morning, with as many as 15 seats either flipping to Democrats or remaining too close to call.
The GOP’s Florida state Senate majority is secure, the supermajority hangs in the balance of one seat, although official results are not yet available as of CHQ post time.
The “supermajority” allows the majority party to bypass the chamber’s rules and conduct business without the minority party’s input.
One state legislative race worth noting is Trump-endorsed Jon Maples (R) FLIPPED the Florida House District that covers Mar-a-Lago in the State Legislature from Blue to Red by defeating Rep. Emily Gregory of Jupiter, so the President is once again represented by a Republican.
Perhaps most importantly, Florida homeowners voted themselves a property tax cut.
Amendment 3, which was endorsed by CHQ, makes changes to property taxes and how local governments can spend money, won with 62% of the vote.
Florida Amendment 3 raises the homestead exemption for non-school taxes to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028, with future adjustments for inflation. Homeowners will still pay the school-tax portion of their bill. Apartments and storefronts would also see their annual assessment cap reduced from 10% to 5%.
The amendment also instructs counties and cities to spend property-tax money on the essentials: public safety, education, infrastructure, natural resources, debt, pensions and basic operations. School millage does not move, protecting public education, although critics could fairly say it is subject to the same property value tax windfall bloat that has fueled the growth of government across all of Florida’s local government bureaucracies.
We urged Florida’s voters to vote YES on Amendment 3 and it looks like they listened and then acted to lower taxes and reduce the local government bureaucracy in the Sunshine State.
It’s worth noting that Florida, the Nation’s third most populous state with over 23 million people, counted 90%+ of the state’s votes in under 80 minutes. No 2:00 a.m. ballot dumps, no delays, no nonsense. Just fast, transparent, secure results, courtesy of Governor Ron DeSantis and the Republican-led legislature’s election integrity legislation passed during his first term.
