Republicans turn Florida’s Miami-dade red
Desantis, Rubio win crucial Latino support
MIAMI — For some Democrats, losing South Florida’s Miami-dade County was unthinkable.
The state’s largest county in population and a Democratic stronghold, home to 1.5 million Latinos of voting age, has been a staging ground for virtually every successful statewide Democratic campaign for the last two decades.
But in Tuesday’s midterm elections, the Republicans shattered the Democrats’ Miami-dade firewall, raising questions about their ability to compete in future statewide elections — including the 2024 presidential race — as Republicans expand their coalition in a way that could echo beyond Florida.
With the final votes still being counted, Florida Gov. Ron Desantis and Sen. Marco Rubio defeated their Democratic opponents by close to 20 points. In Miami-dade specifically, their wins could ultimately touch double digits.
Desantis even won among college-educated and suburban voters, cutting into what was a core Democratic strength elsewhere.
“Our party, especially here in Florida, needs to take a step back to make sure this never happens again,” said Rep.-elect Maxwell Alejandro Frost, a 25-year-old Democrat who is Black with Latino heritage. He won his central Florida congressional race on Tuesday but lamented GOP gains elsewhere across the state.
Florida Republicans, meanwhile, were ecstatic.
“The Florida Democratic Party has completely collapsed,” said Giancarlo Sopo, a Republican strategist. “This wasn’t just a wave or a tsunami. It was a red asteroid that hit them in Florida.”
Desantis won the governor’s office four years ago by 32,436 votes out of more than 8.2 million cast, a margin so narrow that it required a recount. As the final votes were being counted on Wednesday, his lead exceeded 1.5 million votes. Desantis’ margin of victory was set to exceed the margins of Florida’s last four governor’s races combined.
The Florida GOP has benefited from an influx of Republican voters moving to the state during the Trump years. In the four years since Desantis was elected, Republicans have erased a voter registration advantage that Florida Democrats had guarded for decades.