Republicans mostly staved off what Gov. Ron DeSantis called a “meteor strike” of national Democratic success last week.

During what the governor called “probably the most difficult electoral environment that Republicans will face in quite some time,” he praised Florida as the only large state with a conservative tilt to “hold the line.”

DeSantis didn’t accept the title of Republican “savior” when asked the next morning whether the word applied, but he launched a national press tour to share his opinions about Florida’s still-red status and the state of the national GOP.

Regarding the return to office of Florida’s red statewide officials, Susan MacManus, political science professor emerita at the University of South Florida, pointed first to the 1.5 million more registered Republicans in the state.

“There’s a lot to be said about why that was the case,” MacManus said, although their wins were narrower compared to four years ago.

“When you have a 1.5 million edge, even though you have a plummeting turnout rate, which Republicans did, you could still lose a lot but still win,” MacManus said.

Florida Republicans turned out 62.6% of their registered voters, while Florida Democrats turned out at a rate of 68.4%, according to Fresh Take Florida. Just shy of 50% of the rest of registered voters turned out, compiling an overall 60.8% turnout rate.

In 2022, the state reported that 54% of eligible voters cast ballots in the General Election. In 2018, 63% voted, and in 2014, 51%.

Why did Florida’s red-tint shine different from the rest of the country, DeSantis asked himself.

“I think the answer is, is that we built up a record of achievement, we’ve earned trust from a number of our voters, that even in the worst situation that you can imagine politically, we were able to hold the line and prevent the worst from happening here,” DeSantis said.

MacManus pointed to the “major spurt” in voter registration for Republicans that came with the COVID-19 pandemic, crediting it in part to the governor as “more and more people” were moving to Florida and “liked what the governor here was doing in terms of public policies and parental rights and some of those other things.”

When DeSantis took office in 2019, Democrats had more than a quarter of a million more registered voters than Republicans. The most recent data, now with two months left for the DeSantis administration, show a GOP advantage of 1.55 million.

“The governor’s popularity has always exceeded that of [President Donald] Trump in Florida, and him entering and finally endorsing the statewide candidates tapped into that feeling of comfort in him saying that these are good people,” MacManus said.

The result of statewide GOP control remained the same, but the margins shrank. In 2022, DeSantis won his reelection by more than 19 points. Then-Attorney General Ashley Moody won by more than 20% and the GOP candidates for chief financial officer and commissioner of agriculture won by nearly 20%, too.

Last week, Republican Byron Donalds won by about 1.3% to become governor-elect, while GOP candidates for attorney general, chief financial officer, and commissioner of agriculture won by 2.2% or less. Attorney General James Uthmeier and Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia were in that cohort, both DeSantis appointees who faced their first election for their posts.

The strong Democratic voter turnout, paired with no-party-affiliated voters who cast votes for Democrats, helped shrink the gap.

“We don’t have facts yet, but we think a lot of that NPA vote came from both young people and Latinos,” MacManus said of those voters who went with the Democrats, “because we know, registration-wise, those groups have sizable portions of NPAs.”

During DeSantis’ media appearances last week, he criticized congressional Republicans for insider trading, votes against releasing the Epstein files, and overall productivity. Democratic turnout, he said, was not a mandate for progressive policies but rather a rebuke of the sitting administration.

“My whole characterization of this election comes down to one phrase,” MacManus said. “A lot of people wanted new faces in high places, pure and simple.”

Florida House

The Florida House remains under GOP control, but the party no longer holds a supermajority. Democrats increased their share of the 120-member body to 50. Before the election, they held 34 seats. In the 40-member Florida Senate, Democrats flipped one seat, sending them into the 2027 session with 13 Democratic senators. There is one vacant seat with a special election still to be called.

DeSantis, noted Dan Weldon, a GOP candidate for Florida House who lost, “was nowhere to be seen on the campaign trail” for “countless down ballot races.”

 A federal judge Thursday denied a request from the Council on American-Islamic Relations and its Florida chapter not to be labeled a “domestic terrorist” organization under a new state law.

While stating they are being “forced to shut down their advocacy and operations in the state,” the group announced plans to appeal the decision by U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor of the Norther District of Florida.

Attorney General James Uthmeier called the ruling a “great win” in a social media post on X.  

Winsor did prohibit the state from taking any punitive action under the law against the Muslim civil rights group, its employees or those providing legal services.

Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Cabinet officially labeled CAIR as a domestic terrorist organization on Sept. 29, but the designation only went into effect Thursday.

“Florida officials have been relentless in seeking to silence our clients’ civil rights work and advocacy, damaging not only them but also their community,” said Ashley Gorski, senior counsel for the ACLU National Security Project, who represented the group in court.

CAIR argued the label violates their rights under the First Amendment and the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Winsor determined the groups failed to show their freedom of association had been unconstitutionally restricted or that the designation forbids any communications.

“It does not say what a (designated terrorist organization) can or cannot say,” Winsor wrote. “Plaintiffs’ real argument is that the designation will effectively shut them down, meaning they will no longer be able to speak about anything. But even if true, that does not make the designation itself (or the regime that authorizes the designation) a prior restraint on speech.

Winsor agreed with CAIR that the “overall scheme is novel — and perhaps unprecedented.” But he added that “the Constitution does not prohibit legislation simply because it is novel.”

CAIR was one of 90 groups labeled domestic or international terrorist organizations at the Cabinet meeting. Others on the lists include the Muslim Brotherhood, the Venezuelan crime syndicate Tren de Aragua, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran, and the anti-fascism movement known as antifa.

At DeSantis’ request, the Republican-dominated Legislature approved a law in the spring allowing the designation (HB 1471).

The law allows the state’s Chief of Domestic Security — currently Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Larry Keefe — to designate a domestic or foreign terrorist organization.

It also bars a court from enforcing any provision of a religious or foreign law, with an emphasis against the Islamic code known as Sharia law, and requires a student in the Florida College System who “promotes” terrorist organizations to be expelled.

The law defines “promotion” as when a student’s actions can be “reasonably interpreted” as an actual threat of violence; disrupting the learning environment; infringing upon the rights of others; or offering “material support for or the recruitment of members for such an organization.”

Other parts of the bill bar schools affiliated with designated terrorist organizations from receiving state K-12 scholarship program money. Also, public universities and colleges are prohibited from spending state or federal funds to support programs or campus activities that promote a designated terrorist organization. 

During a more than two-hour hearing on Oct. 28, Gorski said the designation will make it impossible for the nonprofit to operate and that members were prepared to resign.

Charles Cooper, an attorney representing the state, told Winsor during the hearing that CAIR serves as a “terrorist front group” for Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, which “hides activities behind a charitable organization.”

This is DeSantis’ second attempt to place the “terrorist organization” label on the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Muslim Brotherhood.

In March, U.S. District Court Judge Mark Walker issued a preliminary injunction against an executive order DeSantis issued in December 2025, ruling it violated CAIR’s rights by targeting and threatening those providing the organization with material support. The state has filed an appeal against the ruling.

Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters Wednesday he’ll convene a special legislative session in the next two months to install the large property tax cut approved by voters Tuesday evening.

At a press conference in the state Capitol, DeSantis said he would work with the Legislature on the timing of the session, but it would be before his second term ends in early January.

Amendment 3, which increases the $50,000 homestead property tax exemption to $150,000 in 2027, and then to $250,000 in 2028, received 62 percent of the vote – two points more than the 60 percent needed to become law.

“What it’ll do is it’ll set the schedule for further homestead exemption, because we want people to get that,” DeSantis said. “But also limiting local governments from just doing an end run around the amendment and taxing them in other ways.”

In a special session over the summer, the Legislature voted to put the property tax cut on the ballot, but carved out school districts from the larger exemption. But on Wednesday, DeSantis hinted the Legislature would look at potential changes to the Florida Education Finance Program, the state’s funding formula for K-12 public schools, next year when he’s out of office.

“You may be able to do a rewrite in a way that will provide strong funding for schools in a way that can still provide relief for homeowners,” DeSantis said.

In recent years, districts have been stretched thin by record-low birth rates and an expansion of school vouchers, which have led to lower enrollment, the closing of schools and budget cuts.

Governor-elect Byron Donalds told the News Service of Florida last week he planned to change the way the FEFP funds public schools to give school districts more flexibility on spending.

“Let the districts figure out how they’re going to pay their teachers, let the districts figure out what programming they’re going to put forward,” Donalds said. 

Amendment 3 faced tough pushback from a wide range of organizations throughout the election season, including firefighters, police and emergency medical technicians, local government officials and top Republican leaders, who argued the property tax cut would be too drastic for rural counties to absorb without hitting essential services.

DeSantis, however, toured the state for more than a year, talking about the need to slash property tax bills as valuations surged.

He credited the popularity of Amendment 3 for providing enough Republican turnout to keep the Cabinet in GOP control while other red states flipped their seats to Democratic candidates.

“Had Amendment 3 not been on the ballot, I don’t know that we’d turn out the voters that we ended up turning out,” DeSantis said. “People wanted to vote yes on that, and then many of them ended up voting Republican later on down the ballot.

The wipeout of Republicans nationally could be felt for several election cycles, Gov. Ron DeSantis warned Wednesday, after one of the worst election nights for the GOP in decades.

“Last night we witnessed – to call it a wave I don’t think would be really accurate. It’s the political equivalent of a meteor strike that went all around the United States – blue states, red states and everything in between,” DeSantis told reporters at the Capitol.

Republicans lost control of the U.S. Senate and U.S. House, and by wide margins, as Democrats surged to wins in deep GOP strongholds such as Texas, Kansas and South Carolina on the back of voter anger with President Donald Trump’s handling of inflation and the war in Iran.

DeSantis said Florida, which saw Republicans hold on to statewide seats and keep its U.S. House margin level despite losing their supermajority in the Legislature, was a firewall against the Democratic wave. But he also warned Democrats’ massive victory nationally would leave the GOP in the doldrums for many elections.

“I don’t think most of us thought it would be quite this bad,” DeSantis said. “This is really going to have an impact, two years, four years, six years, maybe even longer before Republicans can exercise unified control in Washington as we have over the last two years.”

Florida Democrats, though missing out on the major wins others in their party enjoyed across the country, believe the results could bring them momentum in the years to come. Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Nikki Fried said the close races – Republicans won the governor, U.S. Senate and Cabinet races by about 3 points or less – show national party leaders should invest more in the Sunshine State.

“We accomplished all of this without major national investment here in our state,” Fried told reporters Wednesday. “For years, Florida has been written off by people who believe the state is no longer competitive and too expensive. I hope they are paying attention this morning.” 

After DeSantis won his reelection race by 20 points in 2022, he was touted as a Republican alternative to Trump during the presidential race in 2024. But DeSantis’ presidential campaign ran into a wall of GOP support for Trump that wanted to return him to the White House.

On Wednesday, DeSantis downplayed any notion of his next chapter, saying he’s focused on the remaining two months of his term. But he pointed to his own record and his push for a property tax cut proposal on the ballot as items that helped Florida Republicans from succumbing to the Democratic wave.

“The question is why did Florida hold up? Why did we hold the line?” DeSantis said. “The answer is that we’ve built up a record of achievement, we’ve earned trust from a number of our voters.”

But he also slammed the former Florida House Speaker, Daniel Perez, a Miami Republican with whom he clashed repeatedly in the last two years. Perez tried to thwart much of DeSantis’ agenda, such as an “AI Bill of Rights” bill and a “Medical Freedom” measure. In turn, DeSantis rejected most of Perez’ big plans, including an overall cut to the sales tax in 2025. He blamed Perez for the GOP losing a net of 15 seats Tuesday night.

“There’s a lot of great House members,” DeSantis said. “But how they behaved over the last two years was not acceptable, and they had a rotten Speaker, and there was a lot of problems there so it just it what it is. I can’t bail them out of their behavior.”

Democrats, though, were ecstatic to bring the GOP advantage in the House down to about 70-50, depending on the outcome of a few races as more votes are returned. If that holds it would be the fewest Republicans in the state House since the GOP took control of the chamber in the 1990s.

“Florida voters made history last night, and they changed the balance of power in Tallahassee,” said Rep. Christine Hunschofsky, D-Parkland, who is slated to be House Democratic Leader. “We did it by recruiting strong candidates, investing in competitive districts, and building a statewide program that gave voters a real choice. Republicans have spent years taking these seats and these voters for granted. Last night, Floridians proved that no seat is out of reach.”

Despite the dour results for Republicans and the euphoria among Democrats nationally, DeSantis cautioned the results don’t mean a permanent swing by voters to the Democratic Party.

“Democrats are unpopular. They were able to win based off the sentiment that exists in the country right now. They did not earn a mandate to indulge all of their left-wing fantasies,” DeSantis said. “This was not a positive view of the Democrats. This was a rejection of Republicans in Washington and Democrats just happened to be the beneficiary.”

According to unofficial results from the Florida Division of Elections, Rogers received 160,968 votes (52.13%) compared to Green’s 147,791 votes (47.87%). The margin of victory was 13,177 votes.

In Leon County, Green won decisively, receiving 84,273 votes (68.01%) compared to Rogers’ 39,646 votes (31.99%). However, Rogers offset the Leon County results with significant victories in surrounding counties.

In Bay County, Rogers received 47,721 votes compared to Green’s 22,164. Rogers also carried Wakulla County by 9,737 to 5,298 votes and Jackson County by 10,627 to 5,015 votes.

Green carried Gadsden County with 12,415 votes compared to Rogers’ 5,169.

Rogers will replace retiring Republican Congressman Neal Dunn, who served five terms representing the district, which stretches from Tallahassee west through much of the Panhandle.

During his victory speech Tuesday in Panama City, Rogers thanked God, his family and campaign supporters while expressing an interest in working with Democrats.

Addressing Green, Rogers said he wanted to meet with his former opponent to discuss issues facing the district.

“I’d love to sit face to face and hear about how I can best represent this district, how I can learn from you and hear your thoughts,” Rogers said.

Rogers also emphasized his North Florida roots and religious faith.

“I think I represent the values of this district well, and that I was born and raised in the Panhandle,” he said.

Looking ahead, Rogers said his first 100 days in Congress will focus on limiting federal spending and addressing the rising cost of living.

Florida residents voted to enact a large property tax cut Tuesday, but rejected two other measures on the ballot.

Amendment 3, which increases the $50,000 homestead property tax exemption to $150,000 in 2027, and then to $250,000 in 2028, received 62 percent of the vote – two points more than the 60 percent needed to become law.

Amendment 1, which would have increased the amount of money lawmakers can put into a key reserve fund, failed with only 40 percent of the vote. Amendment 2, which would exempt some farm equipment and property used for agriculture or agritourism from property taxes, got closer to the 60 percent threshold, but only reached 58 percent.

Amendment 3 was spearheaded by Gov. Ron DeSantis, who toured the state for more than a year, talking about the need to slash property tax bills as valuations surged.

“Big win on Amendment 3 for Florida homeowners!” DeSantis posted on X on Tuesday night.

The proposal faced harsh criticism from a wide range of organizations throughout the election season. Groups of firefighters, police and emergency medical technicians joined local government officials to oppose the measure, saying the property tax cut will be too drastic for rural counties to absorb without hitting essential services.

Even though the Republican Party of Florida and the Florida Realtors backed the proposal, several high-ranking GOP members warned residents of the potential fallout if the amendment passed.

Jeff Brandes, a former Republican state senator who has been critical of Amendment 3, said state leaders should be held accountable for their decision to put the measure on the ballot.

“Florida passed Amendment 3. The governor and the Legislature own what comes next. They have the responsibility to manage the fallout,” Brandes wrote on X.

Both Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, and Sen. Kathleen Passidomo, a Naples Republican and Albritton’s predecessor, also came out against the ballot amendment, cautioning it could slash services that people expect from their local governments.

“My concern is that the amendment is a one-size-fits-all amendment, and every community is different,” Passidomo told the News Service of Florida last month.

The proposal, which was crafted by DeSantis’ office, was passed by the Florida Legislature during a special session in June. DeSantis originally recommended immediately raising the current exemption for homestead properties from $50,000 to $250,000, but the Legislature tweaked the plan and carved out school districts from the larger exemption.

The measure went straight to the ballot without needing DeSantis’ signature.

While DeSantis vocally backed Amendment 3, he split from the RPOF on Amendment 1, calling it “foolish.”

The amendment would have increased the cap on the balance of the budget stabilization fund from 10 percent of the previous year’s general fund revenue to 25 percent. DeSantis chided former House Speaker Daniel Perez, with whom he clashed several times over many issues in the last two years, over the measure.

“Amendment 1 — a testament to our failed former speaker of the House — is deservedly going down in flames. Good riddance,” he said in a post on X on Tuesday night. 

Amendment 2, which would have resulted in a $30 to $40 million tax cut across all 67 counties for agriculture interests, fell just short of passage with 58.25 percent approval.

Byron Donalds, a three-term Republican congressman from Naples, held off a challenge from Democratic nominee David Jolly to take the Florida governor’s race, results from the state Division of Elections showed late Tuesday evening.

In doing so he is slated to become the first Black governor of Florida.

According to state election returns late Tuesday evening, Donalds had 50.1 percent of the vote, to Jolly’s 48.7 percent.

“As your Governor, I will give you everything I have,” Donalds posted on X. “We are going to make life in Florida more affordable. We are going to keep our streets safe. We are going to invest in our young people so that they can attain the Florida Dream that all of us love so dearly.”

Jolly is a former U.S. House member who was a Republican when he served in Congress from 2014-2017. He left the party when President Donald Trump rose to prominence in the GOP, and later became a Democrat.

Campaigning on economic issues and linking Trump’s policies and the higher cost of living to Donalds, whom Trump endorsed, Jolly also tried to reach out to disaffected Republican voters.

But his push was unable to overcome Donalds’ massive financial advantage, where he spent $165.9 million to Jolly’s $24.7 million, according to campaign finance records showing spending through Oct 29. The Republican Party of Florida’s turnout machine also helped put Donalds on top, with Republicans swarming the polls on Election Day, after Democrats had outperformed early vote totals from the 2024 elections.

Donalds in his victory speech said he had spoken to Jolly, who had conceded.

During the campaign, Donalds pushed back on Jolly’s message to voters, claiming his plans for Florida’s property insurance market, which entailed the state taking on the windstorm risk portion of a homeowner policy, would amount to a “hurricane tax” that would push premiums higher.

Donalds also attacked Jolly, seen as a moderate Democrat, as a “Trojan horse,” for progressive and socialist policies, citing his support for the Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Angie Nixon, who joined the Democratic Socialists of America in June.

Jolly also hit Donalds for not supporting a moratorium on large-scale data centers used to power burgeoning artificial intelligence technology. Many voters soured on the facilities, which often require large amounts of energy, placing more pressure and greater costs on the grid.

Donalds was able to blunt that criticism by saying he supported the law passed by the Legislature this year at Gov. Ron DeSantis’ request, which places new requirements on data centers, including making AI companies pay for the new energy costs of the facilities.

Just ahead of the midterm election, the average gallon of gas in Florida slipped under $4.

Last Thursday, the average went under the $4 mark for the first time since Sept. 8. A continued weekend decline brought the mark to $3.86 on Monday, the lowest since Aug. 23.

AAA has noted that prices are decreasing as refineries and fuel stations switch to winter-blend gasoline. Cheaper and less energy-efficient than the summer blend, the winter blend helps with engine ignition during colder temperatures.

But global issues have kept crude oil prices high and offset the possibility of sharper decreases from the winter blend conversion.

Floridians have been paying an average of $3.99 since the start of March, when pump prices first spiked from $2.88 a gallon after the U.S. and Israel jointly attacked Iran. In response, Iran attempted to block oil tankers from going through the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for much of the global oil supply.

On Saturday, President Donald Trump said negotiations with Tehran continue but the U.S. still has targets to take out.

Nationally, the average gallon of gas stood at $4.17 on Monday.

Diesel was at $5.98 in Florida on Monday, while nationally it was at $6.29.

Diesel in Florida has been around the $6 mark since early September and over $5 a gallon since mid-July.

A year ago, motorists were paying an average of $2.98 a gallon for gas in Florida and $3.65 for diesel.

Led by a $3.60 average in Escambia County, the lowest prices are offered on the western Panhandle and the Gulf Coast on the south side of Tampa Bay.

The highest averages continue to be found in portions of the Big Bend and across South Florida, with the Florida Keys at the state high of $4.14 a gallon. Rural Washington and Holmes counties, which experienced some of the biggest spikes after Hurricane Isaias raced through the region on Oct. 9, also continue to have averages 20- to 30-cents higher than their Panhandle neighbors.

Even with a requested increase for Hurricane Isaias restoration efforts, Florida Power & Light has proposed a slightly lower average monthly bill than previously approved for next year.

The Juno Beach-based utility announced Friday it is asking state regulators that the rate hike approved last year as part of a four-year settlement be set at $141.87 a month on the typical residential customer bill beginning in January 2027. That would be $1.18 less than the rate approved as part of the 2025 settlement with the state Public Service Commission. The rate is based on the use of 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity a month.

“Now, our modern generation fleet and continued focus on efficiency are helping keep 2027 bills lower than we projected last year, even as we recover the cost of responding to the hurricane,” FPL President and CEO Scott Bores said in a released statement.

FPL is the largest utility in the state, providing service in 41 counties to nearly 6.13 million homes and businesses, or about 12 million people.

FPL attributed the reduction to “smart long-term investments, disciplined operations and a modern, fuel-efficient generation fleet, along with lower projected natural gas costs.”

When the settlement was reached, the Office of Public Counsel and its allies said cumulative increases over four years could reach about $6.9 billion over previous rates. At the time the settlement was finalized in October 2025, it was expected to lead to base-rate increases of $945 million in 2026 and $705 million in 2027.

According to FPL, the new projected reduction should offset a proposed temporary surcharge of $3.48 a month per 1,000-kWh of use needed to recover costs for power restoration from Hurricane Isaias and to replenish the company’s storm reserve.

FPL contends the storm that made landfall on the western Panhandle near Destin as a Category 2 system on Oct. 9 knocked out power to about 84 percent of the company’s northwest Florida customers.

The company states it mobilized about 17,000 workers who restored power where possible within four days.

“FPL’s investments in smart-grid technology helped avoid approximately 138,000 outages during the hurricane,” the company stated. “Underground neighborhood power lines performed about 14 times better than overhead lines and FPL’s ongoing forensic investigation has not identified a single hardened pole that failed during Isaias.”

If approved by the PSC, the request for Isaias’ recovery would be applied to monthly bills from January through December 2027.

The pace of first-time jobless claims in Florida dipped slightly over the past two weeks.

The U.S. Department of Labor estimated 4,956 initial unemployment applications were filed in Florida last week, down from a revised count of 5,041 the week ending Oct. 17.

Since the start of August, Florida has steadily averaged fewer than 5,400 new claims a week.

Florida’s jobless rate for September was 4.4 percent, or about 489,000 out of work from a labor force of 11.1 million. The jobless number has grown by 28,000 over the year while the workforce is up 21,000 in the same time.

The National Federation of Independent Business has reported small business owners have become “more cautious” about planning for the future.

Meanwhile, a report out this week showed CEOs surveyed by the Florida Council of 100 continued to express a positive economic outlook. But the third quarter survey showed expectations for sales, capital investment and employment were down from the previous quarter.

“Florida’s business leaders remain confident in opportunities to invest and grow,” Council Chairman George LeMieux said in a released statement. “Hiring expectations remain particularly strong relative to the nation, and investment expectations are substantially higher than a year ago.”

Nationally, an estimated 194,000 new unemployment claims were filed last week, down 1,000 from a revised count for the prior week.

Florida is approaching 4 million votes cast ahead of Tuesday’s midterm election, with registered Republicans slightly ahead of Democrats in ballots cast by mail or at in-person early voting sites.

The Division of Elections on Thursday showed nearly 1.57 million Republicans have cast ballots, while more than 1.51 million Democrats have voted.

Those without a political party have cast more than 700,000 ballots, while individuals registered with a minor party were at 96,000 votes.

Republicans hold a 1.5 million advantage over Democrats among the state’s 13.7 million registered voters.

In-person early voting as of Thursday morning was 972,000 by Republicans to 788,000 Democrats. Democrats were up 727,000 to 594,000 with vote-by-mail ballots.

The prior midterm election in 2022 drew 7.8 million voters, 53.8 percent of those registered in Florida at the time.

Republicans cast nearly 1.17 million early votes, almost 500,000 more than Democrats, in 2022. The 1.2 million Democrats who voted through the mail in 2022 were about 200,000 more than Republicans.

Mandatory early voting for all 67 counties ends Saturday. Alachua, Bradford, Gadsden, Hillsborough, Jefferson, Leon, Manatee, Miami-Dade, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pinellas, Sarasota, Seminole, Duval and Levy counties will offer the voting option on Sunday.

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday hit the campaign trail to support U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, the Republican nominee to replace him, but later in the day he also urged GOP voters not to be lethargic about heading to the polls.

“For Republicans, I don’t necessarily want to be the bearer of bad news, but I don’t think the turnout has been as strong as we would like to see. I think people need to get out and vote,” DeSantis told reporters at an event in Crystal River to highlight environmental grant funds he was awarding throughout the state.

DeSantis was asked about the early voting numbers for Republicans, which show GOP voters have cast more ballots than Democrats through in-person early voting and through the mail, but the lead is smaller than it was at this time in the last midterm election in 2022. As of Tuesday afternoon, Republicans had cast more than 1.4 million votes, or nearly 35,000 more than Democrats had cast, according to state data.

He said he doesn’t think Republican parents in their 30s and 40s are turning out in the same numbers as they did for his reelection because the urgency isn’t the same when the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic was still fresh.

“Four years ago they were all coming out because we were doing parents’ rights, we were fighting Disney on gender insanity … keeping schools open during COVID, making sure the kids didn’t have to wear masks – all these things were so sensitive for parents that I think people in that age group really turned out well,” DeSantis said. “Because of the changes in the overall atmospherics I think you’ve seen some of them have withdrawn from being involved in the political or electoral process to a certain extent. Now that can change between now and the election, but I definitely think Republicans have some work to do.”

Hours earlier, DeSantis was in Brooksville with Donalds, recounting his highlights during his two terms as governor and warning voters the Democratic nominee, former U.S. Rep. David Jolly, was opposed to most of it. He especially hit on his approach to COVID-19, reopening the state earlier than other states, ensuring schools were open and children weren’t forced to wear masks.

“Byron’s running against a guy who opposed us every step of the way on having Florida opened,” DeSantis said. “(Donalds) has made it very clear that Florida did it right, especially during COVID when his opponent would have done precisely the opposite.”

Even in his speech during the Donalds rally, though, DeSantis acknowledged the dynamics of the current election cycle aren’t what they were in 2022. Inflation has hit household finances hard, but frustration with the national economy shouldn’t discourage Republicans from getting to the polls, especially because they could vote for Amendment 3, the property tax cut DeSantis has championed.

“There’s a lot of stuff going on in the world, there’s a lot of stuff going on in Washington, D.C. A lot of people aren’t happy with all that, but don’t let that color your opportunity to keep things going here,” DeSantis said. “Don’t let it cause you to sit on the sidelines and not go vote to reduce your property taxes on Amendment 3.”