November 8, 2012 –
Florida’s election results: important developments

On Tuesday, Florida voters went to the polls and re-elected President Barack Obama by a very tight margin of 49.83 percent to Mitt Romney’s 49.31 percent, based on unofficial election night results.

Florida voters also re-elected U.S. Senator Bill Nelson over Republican candidate Connie Mack and retained all three of the Florida Supreme Court Justices on the ballot: Fred Lewis, Peggy Quince and Barbara Pariente for new six-year terms.

Bill Nelson (D)	Connie Mack (R)

Voters rejected almost all of the 11 constitutional amendments on the ballot as well. Eight of the amendments did not receive the required 60 percent vote to pass. Voters did approve Amendments 2, 9 and 11 providing targeted tax relief for veterans, spouses of military veterans killed in the line of duty and senior citizens, respectively.

Potentially the most interesting development for the Florida Legislature is the loss of the Republican supermajority in the state Senate.

Senate Republicans still maintain a majority in the Senate; however, Democrats gained two seats, narrowing the Republicans’ advantage to 26-14 for the next two years.

The loss of the supermajority for the Senate Republicans is important because it no longer enables the GOP to push an aggressive conservative agenda and waive the rules over Democrats’ objections. Now, the majority cannot easily suspend the Senate’s rules and ignore minority party members.

Darren Soto (D)	William McBride (R)

Democrat Darren Soto defeated Republican William McBride in the race for a central Florida Senate seat and Maria Sachs defeated Republican Ellyn Bogdanoff to represent the newly created Senate District 34 in South Florida.

Maria Sachs (D)	Ellyn Bogdanoff (R)

The race between Sachs and Bogdanoff was the only Senate competition pitting two incumbents against one another. The fight for Senate District 34 also holds another distinction, with a price tag of an estimated $10 million in spending, as being one of the most expensive races in Florida.

Overall, Florida Democrats picked up 5 seats in the House, based on unofficial election results, defeating four incumbents and picking up an open seat. Although the House Republicans maintain their majority with 76 Republicans to 44 Democrats in the 120-member House, they no longer have a veto-proof two-thirds majority.

One surprising development was in the race between incumbent and rising House Speaker (2015-2016) Chris Dorworth (R) and newcomer Mike Clelland (D) for House District 29.

Mike Clelland (D)	Chris Dorworth (R)

Based on Tuesday night’s returns, Representative Dorworth is losing to Mike Clelland by 37 votes. The Seminole County Supervisor of Elections said there were still a number of provisional ballots to count, but since the margin of victory may be less than half a percent, a mandatory recount seems imminent.

Dorworth raised over half a million dollars for his own re-election campaign, along with another $344,000 for a political committee, compared to Clelland’s less-than-$70,000 total.

Incumbent Republican Scott Plakon, District 30, lost to Democrat Kathy Castor Dentel.

Kathy Castor Dentel (D)	Scott Plakon (R)

Other GOP House incumbents defeated Tuesday include Representative Peter Nehr of Palm Harbor, to Democratic challenger Carl Zimmerman for House District 65 in coastal Pinellas County, and Representative Shawn Harrison of Tampa, who lost to Democrat Mark Danish in House District 63.

Carl Zimmerman (D)	Peter Nehr (R)

Mark Danish (D)	Shawn Harrison (R)

In other news, Florida House Speaker Designate Will Weatherford (R) and Senate President Designate Don Gaetz (R) announced the Interim Committee Schedule today for the weeks of:

The Regular Session convenes on Tuesday, March 5, 2013.

For additional information about Florida’s election results and how they may impact your business, please contact Joanna Bonfanti, a Government Affairs Consultant in Gunster’s Tallahassee office at 850-443-1327 or by email at [email protected].