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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has won re-election, defeating Democratic candidate Charlie Crist, NBC News projects.
DeSantis, a potential 2024 GOP presidential contender, has carried himself with open disdain for the democratic process ever since he took office in 2019. One of his first major moves as governor was to sign a law that put obstacles in place for millions of felons to gain their voting rights back, less than a year after Florida voters widely approved a bill to automatically reinstate their eligibility if they meet certain requirements.
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In the time since, DeSantis — whom I’ve taken to calling “Orlando’s Viktor Orbán” — has backed measures in Florida that tipped the state’s elections heavily in Republicans’ favor, much like Hungary’s prime minister (who’s beloved by Republicans these days). Those measures included a restrictive new voting law targeting demographics who often favor Democrats, demanding the state's GOP-led Legislature approve district maps that strengthen conservative power while diluting Black voter influence, and authorizing armed police officers to arrest allegedly fraudulent voters. Many of those arrested are often Black Democrats, according to The Tampa Bay Times. In a recent Washington Post feature, several of the felons ensnared by the fraud investigation said they had been falsely told by officials that they were eligible to vote.
DeSantis has also spent the better part of the past year stoking hate toward marginalized groups by signing significant restrictions on school lesson plans that address racism and anti-LGBTQ bigotry, while pushing whitewashed views of American history. He has falsely characterized history lessons as a means to demonize white kids, and he has lobbed equally disgusting claims suggesting classroom discussions acknowledging LGBTQ people amount to child abuse. And recently, in a cruel stunt to malign immigrants as threats to the United States, he’s chartered taxpayer-funded flights full of migrants from Texas to liberal cities in the Northeast.
DeSantis is an embodiment of the democratic illegitimacy I warned about earlier this fall in a post explaining how GOP voter suppression and gerrymandering would deny us an accurate gauge of the public’s wants and wishes. What DeSantis and Florida Republicans have done this election cycle — mixing violent intimidation and dubious legislative tactics to ensure victory — is a grave turn for democracy.
For the foreseeable future, free and fair elections appear to be a thing of the past in Florida.