Tuesday’s blue tsunami upturned the political order nationwide, even in unlikely places like Texas — but Florida somehow held a solid red line.
Gov.-elect Byron Donalds, US Sen. Ashley Moody, Attorney General James Uthmeier and state CFO Blaise Ingoglia, Republicans all, won their races in a year that was otherwise a widespread disaster for their party.
How did Florida — for decades, the nation’s quintessential swing state — do it?
Credit the man who made it happen: Gov. Ron DeSantis.
I’ve seen his strategy firsthand.
When my family first moved to Florida almost five years ago, we joined an influx of blue-state escapees fleeing terrible pandemic policies, rising crime and crushing taxes.
Floridians then were concerned, and rightly so, that many of these newcomers would settle into their then-purple state and go right back to their Team Blue voting habits, tipping the balance permanently.
That didn’t happen.
In fact, the new arrivals made the state far redder than it had ever been: President Donald Trump won Florida by a single percentage point in 2016; in 2024, he took it by over 13.
DeSantis engineered that shift, and not just by governing as a common-sense conservative — but by asking us directly to join the Sunshine State’s Republican revolution.
He frequently addressed new arrivals in his public comments, welcoming us to the “Free State of Florida.”
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And soon after we arrived, we got a friendly notice in our mailbox from the state GOP, urging us to register Republican.
“Gov. DeSantis welcomes you home,” it read, beneath a cheery photo of bright orange flip-flops on a humble welcome mat.
But the message was also blunt about what was expected of us: “Gov. Ron DeSantis and Republican leaders are doing their part to protect our state. Will you do yours?”
It was a potent reminder that we’d come to be a part of something — and I think it had an impact.
We weren’t in Florida for the weather or the low taxes, although these were very nice bonuses.
We were there by choice, to escape a stifling political environment in states that were constantly flirting with terrible ideas like defunding police or closing prisons.
And we’d chosen Florida to participate in a culture that was zigging as the country zagged.
Neighbors of mine who always voted Democrat when they lived in New England were pushed here by insane COVID regulations in their home state.
They came to Florida — and switched parties.
As blue states’ school reading lists got progressively crazier, DeSantis signed the Parental Rights in Education law to prohibit teachers from sneaking woke nonsense into their lessons.
We watched from afar as rioters in our old hometowns blocked traffic and made mayhem in service of the cause du jour — while our governor wouldn’t stand for such antics.
“Do not even try to shut down the streets” in Florida, he said in 2025 as woke activists geared up for anti-Trump protests. “We’re going to make sure that you don’t do that.”
Later that month he gave Floridians carte blanche to take matters into their own hands: “If you drive off and you hit one of these people, that’s their fault for impinging on you.”
A state where rioters don’t get their way, police get respect and schools aren’t indoctrination factories? Sign me up.
Then there’s our secure and speedy election process.
It’s transparent by design: No last-minute mystery ballot dumps here.
Florida reports daily, county-level statistics on how many people have voted, broken down by party.
Yes, of course we have to show ID at the polling place, then sign our names — and your signature has to match the ID you provided, or else you’ll have to keep trying until it does.
And while Tuesday’s election results were far closer than expected, they were reported fast —without any hint of ballot-counting shenanigans.
Floridians like what we’ve built here, and this election reassured me that it could be lasting.
Politics can always shift, of course; Florida’s Democrats turned out enthusiastically in this election, and they could build on that success.
But if soon-to-be Gov. Donalds keeps inviting like-minded voters to take an active part in Florida’s conservative cause, he’ll continue the DeSantis legacy for years to come.
Karol Markowicz is the host of the “Karol Markowicz Show” and “Normally” podcasts.
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