(Misty Castile, The Center Square) Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis warned Wednesday that Republicans could spend years recovering from their midterm election losses, with consequences for President Donald Trump’s ability to secure approval of judicial and Cabinet nominees.
Speaking at the state Capitol in Tallahassee, the outgoing Republican governor described the results as “close to an extinction-level event” and predicted Republicans would struggle to regain congressional majorities in 2028.
Democrats won control of both the Senate and House of Representatives in Tuesday’s elections. DeSantis warned that Democratic control of the Senate would make it harder for Trump to secure confirmation of conservative Cabinet nominees or a Supreme Court nominee if a vacancy arises.
“It will take a lot of time and effort to rebuild. It will not happen in just one election cycle,” DeSantis said.
He said the outcome reflected dissatisfaction with the governing party rather than an endorsement of the Democratic agenda.
“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,” DeSantis said.
DeSantis pointed to Texas as a particularly significant loss. Democrat Gina Hinojosa won the governor’s race, while Democrat James Talarico won the U.S. Senate race.
“And if the Republican Party doesn’t have Texas as an anchor, then we are not going to be viable nationally going forward,” DeSantis said.
In Florida, Republican U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds defeated Democrat David Jolly to succeed DeSantis. Unofficial results showed Donalds with 50.02% of the vote and Jolly with 48.71%.
DeSantis credited Florida Republicans with building voter trust through their governing record. He also emphasized their numerical advantage among voters.
“The only thing that saved us was we just have more Republicans,” he said.
He cautioned Republicans against assuming Florida would remain secure for the party. He urged them to respond to changing voter concerns, saying strategies that worked in previous elections might no longer succeed.
“Nothing is guaranteed in this,” DeSantis said.
