by Steve Wilson
Florida Republicans maintained their supermajority in both chambers of the Legislature after Tuesday’s elections.
House Republicans gained one seat for an 85-36 advantage, while the composition of the Senate remains the same with 28 Republicans and 12 Democrats.
This came despite a strong Democratic push to topple the supermajorities. The Florida Democratic Party’s Take Back Florida Distinction initiative listed 21 seats in both the Florida Legislature and Congress that it targeted for potential flips.
Only one of the House seats targeted went to the Democrats while Sen. Corey Simon, R-Tallahassee, easily won reelection against Daryl Parks with 55.7% of the 277,108 of the ballots cast.
The lone Democratic pickup was in District 45, where Leonard Spencer beat Rep. Carolina Amesty, R-Orlando by, 1,596 votes.
Amesty was indicted in August on four felony charges related to a document she notarized at a private university run by her father.
The swing district includes parts of Orange and Osceola counties. Orange County went 55.9% to 42.37% for Vice President Kamala Harris in preliminary results and for former U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell with 54.96% of the vote in the U.S. Senate race.
Osceola County was won by President-elect Donald Trump with a 909-vote victory out of 172,595 ballots cast and U.S. Sen. Rick Scott took the county by a 4,393-vote margin.
A recount is likely in District 93, where Republican Anne Gerwig is holding a 358-vote advantage over incumbent Rep. Katherine Waldron, D-Wellington, according to preliminary results with some mail-in ballots still to be counted.
In District 35, the Republicans got the flip as Erika Booth knocked off Rep. Tom Keen in a district that includes parts of Osceola, Orange and Polk counties in central Florida. She won with a 39,422-vote margin according to preliminary results.
Keen won the seat in January in a special election to replace Rep. Fred Hawkins, who resigned from the House to take over as the next president of South Florida State College in Avon Park.
Rep. Daniel Perez, R-Miami, will take over the House Speaker’s gavel from outgoing House Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast, when the Legislature reconvenes for its next session on March 4.
Perez said in a post on X that he expects a “exceptional two years.”
“Tonight, Floridians have returned a historic Republican supermajority to the Florida House of Representatives,” Perez said. “Our members, our candidates, and our team at House Campaigns pulled together to bring our conservative message to the voters.
“We talked about the issues people cared about, and I know our members will fight every day to deliver results for Floridians.”
Also extolling another supermajority was Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, in a post on X.
“It’s official: The Florida Senate’s favorite color is red!” Passidomo said. “With your support, we have maintained a supermajority in the Florida Senate. Congrats to all my colleagues celebrating a win this election!”
Steve Wilson has been an award-winning writer and editor for nearly 20 years at newspapers in Georgia, Florida and Mississippi and is a U.S. Coast Guard veteran and University of Alabama graduate. Wilson is a regional editor for The Center Square.
Photo “Florida Capitol” by Michael Rivera. CC BY-SA 3.0.
