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‘This is Trump country’: Florida is a swing state no more

He wasn’t on the ballot, but Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday became one of the big winners of the 2020 presidential race.

The Donald Trump ally helped deliver the president's must-win state and in the process cemented his own legacy as a leading "Make America Great Again" luminary. And he might avoid the dicey prospect of running for reelection on the same ticket as a White House incumbent during a midterm after the president’s reelection was thrown into doubt this week.

Nick Iarossi, a Tallahassee lobbyist and DeSantis fundraiser, said that as Election Day approached, there was speculation that if Trump lost Florida, DeSantis would be blamed for not doing enough.

“I hope those same people are just as eager to share some credit with the governor for President Trump’s dominant win,” Iarossi said. Another plus for DeSantis is the relatively smooth way the election was run in a state mocked for its many failures.

Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania report new vote counts as battlegrounds narrow

Going into Tuesday’s voting, the list of battleground states that President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden were fighting for was a long 13. By the end of the night, that list had shrunk to a half-dozen.

By Wednesday morning, all eyes were on three familiar battlegrounds: Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Propelled by the late counting of votes from Democratic strongholds, Biden had taken a lead in Michigan and Wisconsin by late morning Wednesday, while Trump remained in front in Pennsylvania with hundreds of thousands of votes outstanding.

After blistering legislative losses, Democratic Party accused of ‘systemic failure’

For Florida Democrats, President Donald Trump’s decisive victory in Florida and down-ballot carnage, particularly in Miami-Dade County, should not have been a surprise, but it was.

Democrats lost five state House of Representative seats, including two in Miami-Dade, bringing the Republican balance to 78, compared to 42 Democrats. Republicans forced what appeared to be a safe Democratic state Senate seat in Miami into a recount and two Democratic incumbent congresswomen were also defeated.

“Total systemic failure. Party, caucuses, affiliated & independent groups,’‘ wrote Democratic state Rep. Javier Fernandez on Twitter, hours after losing a bitter and expensive contest for state Senate in Miami. “People have spoken & clearly said they don’t want what we are offering. Unforgivable part is that no one saw this coming.”

Attorney John Morgan: ‘Nikki Fried has disqualified herself from any future or statewide office’

Attorney John Morgan on Wednesday criticized Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried for her lackluster support for the $15 minimum wage amendment.

Morgan, who spearheaded the amendment, said he spent more than $6 million and an “inordinate” amount of time helping push the amendment over the finish line. Alternatively, he described Fried’s response as “weak” and “tepid.”

He criticized her for telling the Tampa Bay Times she was on the fence.

“That bullsh*t doesn’t work with me,” Morgan said at a press conference. “To me, Nikki Fried has disqualified herself from any future or statewide office in the Democratic Party and I’m sorry to say that because I really thought she had a bright future.”