NEW YORK (BLOOMBERG) -- Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said the blue wave that swept over just about every corner of the US on Election Day — except his state — was akin to a “meteor strike” for the Republican Party.
The heavy losses suffered by the GOP will take many years to recover from, predicted DeSantis, who is wrapping up his second and final term as Florida’s top elected official.
“Let’s be clear about what happened last night,” DeSantis said at a press conference Wednesday. “This is as close to an extinction level event for Republicans in many parts of the country as we’ve seen probably in the last 100 years.”
His comments came as Vice President JD Vance also critiqued the election results, saying in a post on X that the reason for the party’s broad-based losses was the war in Iran. “The real reason we lost is obvious to almost everyone,” Vance wrote.
DeSantis, who tried unsuccessfully to challenge President Donald Trump for the GOP presidential nomination in 2024, touted Florida’s ability to withstand the Democratic onslaught. Republicans won on Tuesday in all of Florida’s top statewide races, including governor, Senate and attorney general.
Florida voters also passed a property tax cut amendment that DeSantis credited with helping drive turnout. “People wanted to vote yes on that and many ended up voting Republican later on down the ballot,” he said.
As DeSantis prepares to leave the governor’s office after eight years, speculation has been swirling as to what he may do next. He had increased his media appearances in recent weeks to ring alarm bells over potential Republican losses in the midterms. CBS News, citing a single unnamed source, reported that DeSantis is being “floated as a possible replacement” for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
On Wednesday, he lamented that Texas, which has been the “crown jewel of conservative politics” for over a generation, went blue, saying that the flip will reverberate for the next decade or more.
“We have to be very clear eyed,” DeSantis said. “This is probably the political worst case scenario for a midterm election.”
