Midterm election results: Republicans win big in Florida, flipping Miami-Dade - Axios MiamiLog InLog InAxios Miami is an Axios company.

Republicans win big in Florida flipping long Democratic Miami-Dade

Gov. Ron DeSantis campaigns for re-election during a rally this week in Hialeah. Photo: Eva Marie Uzcategui/AFP via Getty Images. Gov. Ron DeSantis easily won re-election last night over Democratic challenger Charlie Crist, the , as Republicans made big gains across the state. The big picture: Tuesday's election serves as further proof that solidly red Florida is past its days as a swing state.Last year, registered Republican voters in Florida surpassed Democrats for the first time in history and have been extending that lead since, . Zoom in: DeSantis won the formerly solid-blue Miami-Dade County, becoming the first Republican gubernatorial candidate to win the county since 2002. Miami-Dade was viewed as a bellwether that could signal a GOP landslide nationwide and provide rocket fuel for a potential DeSantis presidential campaign in 2024, . What else: Republicans swept the Florida Cabinet races, as Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody and Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis both fended off Democratic challengers on Tuesday.Republican Wilton Simpson won the race for agriculture commissioner after Democrat Nikki Fried vacated the seat to run for governor. Statewide, Republicans won enough seats to give them a two-thirds supermajority in the State House and Florida Senate, according toAll nine Republican candidates running in Miami-area state legislative races won on Tuesday. What they're saying: At a victory party Tuesday evening, DeSantis called his victory a "win for the ages" and thanked the Democratic bastions of Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties for supporting him over Crist. "We have rewritten the political map," he said. In front of a small crowd at Crist's St. Petersburg election night party, the former governor and congressman congratulated DeSantis."I'm at peace," he told the crowd. Florida International University political science professor Eduardo Gamarra told Axios that DeSantis will view his win as a mandate from voters to keep pushing Florida farther to the right — especially with Republicans winning crucial races in the Florida Cabinet and state Legislature. Gamarra said DeSantis may use his new term in office as a campaign opportunity, proposing legislation that fires up the Republican base in Florida and nationwide. "He has everything to push ahead with his extreme agenda in Florida, I don't think he's going to relent at all," Gamarra said. What's ahead: "I have only begun to fight," DeSantis said. Get more local stories in your inbox with .Subscribe Support local journalism by becoming a member.

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