Florida will vote on marijuana, abortion in an election that will test GOP’s dominance

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida’s election will test whether the state maintains its new reputation as a Republican stronghold, or whether Democrats make some gains by tapping into the support for abortion and marijuana ballot questions and the new energy Vice President Kamala Harris brings to the race.

Gone are the days when Florida was looked at as the biggest prize among swing states. After former President Barack Obama won Florida twice, former President Donald Trump carried the state by a whisker in 2016 and then by a much larger share in 2020. In 2022, Republicans took all five statewide seats on the ballot by landslide margins.

Still, there is a lot of buzz over constitutional amendments that could protect abortion rights and legalize recreational marijuana, with both sides of each issue pumping millions of dollars into advertising. Democrats support the ballot measures and hope they boost turnout to give them at least a chance stopping Trump’s third straight Florida victory and keeping U.S. Sen. Rick Scott from winning a second term.

The only statewide office on the ballot is Scott’s Senate seat. Scott is being challenged by former Democratic U.S. Rep. Debbie Murcarsel-Powell in a race that’s been overshadowed by the presidential election and the abortion and marijuana ballot questions.

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Even if Trump and Scott are victorious in Florida, Democratic Party Chairwoman Nikki Fried said the election will be a huge success if the amendments pass and the party flips enough legislative seats to take away the Republicans’ supermajority.

“Look where we were in of November 2022. We had the largest loss that Florida Democrats have ever experienced,” Fried said. “Nobody anticipated that we would even have this conversation today, that the polls are showing that we are tight, that there was even a possibility that Florida would be in play. Everybody counted us out.”

Still, it’s an uphill climb. The amendments need support from at least 60% of voters, and there’s enough money being spent against them that it could create doubts among voters who normally support the issues, said Florida-based Republican political strategist Jamie Miller.

“As a general rule, amendments pass if there’s no real effort against them and they fail when there are real efforts against them,” Miller said.

Miller also believes Democrats are motivated to vote against the Republicans they don’t like rather than be inspired by their own candidates.

“I see excitement against Donald Trump and against Rick Scott, but that as a general rule in the state the size of Florida is not enough to get you across the line,” he said.

Scott served two terms as governor, winning each with less than 50% of the vote. In 2018, he defeated incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson in a race decided by 0.2 percentage points. But Florida politics changed. The last time Scott was on the ballot, Democrats outnumbered Republicans in the state. Republicans now have a million-voter advantage.

Scott, one of the richest members of Congress, pumped millions of dollars of his own money into the race, as he has with his previous three elections. Far outspent, and with little money coming in from national Democrats until the last few weeks of the race, Murcarsel-Powell struggled to gain attention.

While Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis wasn’t on the ballot, he spent time campaigning against the abortion rights and marijuana amendments. DeSantis even used state agencies to fight the amendment, with the Agency for Health Care Administration set up a website and aired TV ads providing information on abortion and the Department of Health tried to stop television stations from airing a pro-amendment ad.

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The abortion amendment would protect the rights of women to have an abortion up to the point the fetus can survive outside the womb. Florida now bans abortion six weeks after conception, when many women don’t realize they are pregnant.

Voters overwhelming approved medical marijuana in 2016. This year they’re being asked to legalize recreational marijuana. The marijuana industry has spent tens of millions of dollars on the campaign, while DeSantis has raised money against it and criticized it often during official events.

Very few, if any, of Florida’s 28 congressional seats are competitive, but the state will elect at least one new member to Congress. Former Senate President Mike Haridopolos is favored to replace retiring Republican Rep. Bill Posey. He’s being challenged by Democrat Sandy Kennedy in a strong Republican district.

Republicans will maintain firm control of the Legislature. Democrats will consider it a major victory if they flip enough seats to remove the supermajority GOP hold in the House and Senate.

One of the legislative seats being heavily targeted is held by Republican Sen. Corey Simon, a former Florida State and NFL football star who is being challenged by nationally known civil rights lawyer Daryl Parks, who is the former partner of civil rights lawyer Ben Crump.