Florida GOP lead narrows to 35,000 votes ahead of midterm
Governor Ron DeSantis urged voters to cast ballots as early voting data showed a smaller Republican margin than in the 2022 cycle.
By Nicholas Martin ·
As of Tuesday afternoon, Republicans in Florida had cast 1.4 million early votes, leading Democrats by only 35,000 ballots. State data indicates this gap is smaller than the margin Republicans held at the same point in the 2022 midterm election.
Governor Ron DeSantis addressed the numbers on Wednesday during a campaign stop for U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds. The Republican nominee to replace DeSantis in the governor's race held a rally in Brooksville, where the incumbent governor outlined his record over two terms. DeSantis argued that Donalds's opponent, former U.S. Rep. David Jolly, opposed the state's pandemic response strategy, specifically the decision to reopen schools without mandatory masks.
"Byron's running against a guy who opposed us every step of the way on having Florida opened," DeSantis said. "(Donalds) has made it very clear that Florida did it right, especially during COVID when his opponent would have done precisely the opposite."
Later in the day, DeSantis spoke to reporters in Crystal River, where he awarded environmental grant funds. He acknowledged that Republican turnout appears lower than expected for this point in the cycle. He suggested that parents in their 30s and 40s, who participated heavily in the 2022 election due to pandemic-related school policies, may feel less urgency now.
"Four years ago they were all coming out because we were doing parents' rights, we were fighting Disney on gender insanity … keeping schools open during COVID, making sure the kids didn't have to wear masks," DeSantis said. "Because of the changes in the overall atmospherics I think you've seen some of them have withdrawn from being involved in the political or electoral process to a certain extent."
DeSantis warned that frustration with the national economy and inflation should not deter voters from participating in the state election. He encouraged Republicans to support Amendment 3, a property tax cut proposal, to maintain their political momentum in the state.
"Don't let it cause you to sit on the sidelines and not go vote to reduce your property taxes on Amendment 3," DeSantis said.
Source: WUSF Public Media
