Florida, the New Capital of Red State America

In what was an overall frustrating election night for Republicans, in which the oft-predicted “red wave” failed to materialize nationally, there was one state above all that provided a clear beacon of hope.

That would be my adopted state of Florida. In the Sunshine State Tuesday evening, Gov. Ron DeSantis cruised to a second term with an astounding near-20-point margin of victory over former Gov. Charlie Crist, and Sen. Marco Rubio routed challenger Rep. Val Demings by over 16 points. 

Both DeSantis and Rubio won the state’s most populous county, 70-plus percent Hispanic Miami-Dade County — DeSantis by double digits. Both Republican standard-bearers won majority-Hispanic Osceola County, in the Orlando area, and DeSantis also flipped Palm Beach County from blue to red.