The Florida House of Representatives. (Watermark Out News file photo)
Florida Democrats stepped out of the struggle of being in the superminority in the state House Oct. 3.
Republicans won 65 seats while Democrats won 49 seats, with six seats still to be called Tuesday night. That means Republicans will not reach the 80-seat threshold to retain the supermajority status they’ve held since 2022. Going into election day, the GOP held 82 seats in the House. Four seats were vacant, all previously held by Republicans. Democrats held 34 seats pre-election.
The 49 seats Democrats won are 15 more than the party held before the election. They picked up one seat in the Florida Senate, too. With one vacancy in that body and one Independent, the Democrats could be out of superminority status in the Senate, too, come session.
Supermajority status gave Republican lawmakers power to override rules regarding procedure and debate inside the chambers and override the governor’s veto pen.
A party needs 27 senators to hold a supermajority. As of Tuesday night, the Senate had 13 Democrats and 22 Republicans, with four seats to still be called, but in which Republicans were leading and one seat subject to a still-to-be-scheduled special election. It had been held by Bryan Avila, who was elected lieutenant governor to Byron Donalds Tuesday.
“Since the August primary, our coordinated campaign has knocked on more than 1.2 million doors and made 5.25 million calls to voters across Florida,” Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried said Tuesday. “That work helped drive a nearly 20-point swing toward Democrats statewide compared to the 2022 midterms, with Democratic turnout surpassing even 2018 levels.”
Fried applauded the state-level effort to elect Democrats, “We did all of this without major national investment in Florida,” she added.
“Imagine what we could accomplish with the national support and investment this state deserves,” Fried, the last statewide-elected Democrat to serve on the Florida Cabinet, said.
Senate Democratic Leader Tracie Davis was “thrilled” to welcome the new Democratic senators. Five of the 13 Democrats are new to the body.
“Last session, Senate Democrats led the way on some of the most important fights Floridians faced, from the affordability crisis to healthcare access to corruption in our state government,” Davis said in a news release. “I know this group of public servants will be ready to continue the fight this term.”
While Republicans maintained control of the governor’s mansion, and still hold majority status in both legislative chambers, Democrats will have more members on committees and voices for debate.
“Florida Democrats will now have more leverage to fight against the extreme Republican leadership in the state,” the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, a national organization, posted to social media Tuesday night.
The Florida Democratic Party sent a message to Rep. Hillary Cassel, who lost Tuesday. Cassel won the 2024 election as a Democrat but switched her party after the election to Republican.
Republicans gained back one seat they’d lost in a special election earlier this year, House District 87, which is home to President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago.
This story is courtesy of Florida Phoenix.
Florida Phoenix is a nonprofit news site, free of advertising and free to readers, covering state government and politics with a staff of five journalists located at the Florida Press Center in downtown Tallahassee. Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
Sign up for the Watermark Out News eNewsletter and follow us for more:
BlueSky | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | TikTok | Threads | YouTube
