Florida's Latest News

Constitutional Amendments, Florida Politics and America Amplified

Constitutional Amendments

Of the six constitutional amendments Floridians saw on the ballot this year, four of them passed. There will be changes to the state’s minimum wage, a cosmetic change to who can vote in elections and will offer specific exemptions for spouses of veterans on home purchases.

The amendment to raise the state’s minimum wage was an expansive campaign that could face challenges in the Legislature, according to Tampa Bay Times/ Miami Herald Tallahassee bureau reporter Lawerence Mower.

How non-Cuban Hispanics in Miami helped deliver Florida for Donald Trump

President Donald Trump’s surge in Miami-Dade County — and therefore his victory in the state — wasn’t just fueled by Republican Cuban Americans. His incredible turnaround in the state’s most populous and diverse county also was due to support from the other half of Miami-Dade’s Latino electorate: non-Cuban Hispanics, many of whom are registered with neither the Republican nor Democratic parties.

In a county where non-Cuban Hispanics make up close to half of the Latino voting electorate, Trump’s campaign tailored its messaging and the president’s campaign stops specifically to Nicaraguans, Colombians, Puerto Ricans and Venezuelans.

And it worked, with some analysts speculating Trump may have won as much as half of non-Cuban Hispanics — a group Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s campaign believed would help run up the score against the Republican president.

If Biden wins, Georgia runoff elections in January could decide control of Senate

The outcome in several contested states will determine whether Joe Biden defeats President Donald Trump. But if the Democratic challenger wins, the ambitions of a Biden presidency could well come down to Georgia.

Georgia, long a Republican stronghold — but one with rapidly changing demographics — could be the site of two runoffs on Jan. 5 to settle which party would control the Senate.

Should Democrats win them, Biden would be dealing with a majority in the Senate, increasing his chances for passing legislation and securing major appointment confirmations. Otherwise, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, could wield the power to block Biden.

No longer a ‘Flori-duh’ laughingstock: How Florida’s vote came in so fast

Floridians are watching this year’s election drama from the sidelines, repeatedly hitting the refresh button and waiting for votes to trickle in from battleground states.

The Sunshine State bucked its reputation for voting mishaps and slow results.

Other key states — Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania — will determine whether President Donald Trump or his Democratic rival Joe Biden wins the White House.

Florida reported its vote tally quickly after the polls closed at 7 p.m. on Election Day. Fox News was the first major news outlet to call the race for Trump at 11:05 p.m. Tuesday, and some political observers wondered why the state wasn’t called even earlier.