U.S. Congressman Byron Donalds speaking with attendees at the 2022 AmericaFest at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Arizona.
Given that President Donald Trump is the first Floridian to ever serve as America's most powerful leader, one would expect Florida Republicans to perform well in the 2026 midterm elections. On Tuesday night, when it came to the two key races — electing Rep. Byron Donalds as governor and keeping Sen. Ashley Moody in her seat — Florida Republicans achieved their goals.
Yet despite this achievement, they are still freaking out.
"Senior Republicans think they're close to hitting a point where the House will be out of reach, with key losses in the Sunshine State piling up," reported Politico's Meredith Lee Hill, Andrew Howard, Alec Hernandez, Sophia Cai and Aaron Pellish on Tuesday. "The only question now is how many seats they lose the majority by at this point."
They added, "That includes districts they redrew to benefit themselves and what looks like a bloodbath with Hispanic voters. Republican incumbents in Florida who weren't even on their party's radar are in trouble. Others like Rep. Anna Paulina Luna barely made it to the finish line in a district Trump won by double digits."
The Politico reporters then quoted Republican strategists, with one saying that “Florida is bad. Real bad." and another arguing that "I didn't have [Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart] in a knife fight on my list."
Still another commented, "A socialist is on track to win Miami-Dade County, where most of the voters fled literal socialism and still refused to vote for Republicans. If that doesn't tell you how big of a colossal f - - - up the first two years of Trump 2.0 was I don't know."
Yet another said, “It’s a ruby-red state. If we have problems there, we have real issues.”
Additionally, the South in general was a terrible night for the Republican Party under Trump. In Texas, Democratic candidate State Rep. James Talarico defeated State Attorney General Ken Paxton in a race that many observers believe would have gone to incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) if Trump hadn't endorsed Paxton. In South Carolina, Democratic candidate Dr. Annie Andrews defeated Sen. Darline Graham Norton in a seat that had until recently been occupied by Graham's late brother, Sen. Lindsey Graham. Even though establishment Republicans wanted Rep. Ralph Norman, Trump preferred Graham's little sister, and his endorsement helped Graham win her primary only to lose in the general election.
Democrats also won in the South even when Trump did not play a key role in who the Republicans nominated. In Georgia, Democratic candidate former Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms defeated Republican candidate billionaire healthcare executive Rick Jackson in a race in which Bottoms capitalized on high Black female turnout. Bottoms is now the first Black woman to ever serve as governor of a US state.