By The FirstFlorida is no longer a swing state.
Sunshine State Governor Ron DeSantis and Senator Marco Rubio have easily defeated Democratic opponents Charlie Crist and Val Demings; DeSantis was up by double digits with 80% reporting.
From NBC News:
DeSantis’ victory over former Rep. Charlie Crist — fueled by a massive cash advantage, political headwinds against Democrats like Crist and changing demographics in a reddening state — contrasted sharply with the governor’s election four years ago when he won by less than half a percentage point.
Sen. Marco Rubio also cruised to victory Tuesday night, NBC News projected, securing his third term amid a statewide Democratic collapse. He defeated Democratic Rep. Val Demings.
Now, as ballots continue to be tallied, DeSantis supporters and campaign insiders hope he wins bragging rights by exceeding Jeb Bush’s historic 2002 margin when he secured re-election as governor by 12.8 percentage points. DeSantis also might become the first Republican gubernatorial candidate since Bush to win Miami-Dade, the state’s largest county, which also has its largest Hispanic population and was once considered a Democratic bastion.
This story is developing…
