Nearly five years ago, Brownstein established a strategic partner relationship with premier Florida lobbying firm, Rubin, Turnbull & Associates. A long-standing Florida firm with deep roots in the state’s political apparatus, Rubin Turnbull has offices in Tallahassee, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and Tampa Bay. The following are high-level results from the Rubin Turnbull team.
Federal Races:
Incumbent. Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) was reelected Tuesday, defeating former Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D-FL) in an election that ended up not being as close as the latest polls had been suggesting. Scott won with 55% of the vote, surpassing the 42% obtained by Mucarsel-Powell, according to data available at 8:15 p.m. on the Florida Division of Elections’ website.
Legislative Races:
In a show of Republican strength in Florida, state Senate incumbent Corey Simon on Tuesday handily defeated Democratic challenger Daryl Parks in what was considered the only competitive state Senate race and the GOP maintained supermajorities in both legislative chambers.
Meanwhile, Democrats failed to topple Republicans’ supermajority in the Florida House, an effort that would have required picking up a net of five seats. Among key House races:
- Republican Erika Booth unseated Rep. Tom Keen (D-Orlando) in a rematch of a special election in House District 35 in Orange and Osceola counties. Keen defeated Booth in the January special election.
- Rep. Susan Plasencia (R-Orlando) held off a challenge from Democrat Nate Douglas in House District 37 in Orange and Seminole counties.
- Rep. David Smith (R-Winter Springs) narrowly won a fourth term over Democrat Sarah Henry in Seminole County’s House District 38.
- Democrat Leonard Spencer held a 237-vote lead out of more than 90,000 votes cast in his bid to unseat Rep. Carolina Amesty (R-Windermere) in House District 45 in Orange and Osceola counties.
- Rep. Paula Stark (R-St. Cloud) successfully defended her seat in House District 47 in Orange and Osceola counties in a challenge from Democrat Maria Revelles.
- Rep. Lindsay Cross (D-St. Petersburg) defeated Republican Ed Montanari in Pinellas County’s House District 60, a priority for Democrats.
- Rep. Peggy Gossett-Seidman (R-Highland Beach) topped Democrat Jay Shooster to hold on to her seat in Palm Beach County’s House District 91.
- Republican Anne Gerwig appeared to have narrowly defeated Rep. Katherine Waldron (D-Wellington) in Palm Beach County’s House District 93.
- Republican Meg Weinberger kept Palm Beach County’s House District 94 in GOP hands as she defeated Democrat Rachelle Litt. The seat was open because Rep. Rick Roth (R-West Palm Beach) faced term limits.
- Rep. Fabian Basabe (R-Miami Beach) won a second term by fending off a challenge from former Democratic Rep. Joe Saunders in Miami-Dade County’s District 106.
Amendments
- Approved amendments: Florida voters approved two of four ballot measures proposed by the Legislature, putting hunting and fishing rights in the state constitution and making a property tax change. But proposals backed by Republican lawmakers to hold partisan school board elections and end public financing of political campaigns fell short.
- Abortion amendment: A ballot proposal that would have enshrined abortion rights in the Florida Constitution failed Tuesday, giving a major political victory to Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) —and dealing a huge blow to abortion-rights supporters. The measure, which appeared on the ballot as Amendment 4, received support from 57% of voters, short of the required 60% approval to pass. The failure of the amendment ensures that a law largely preventing abortions after six weeks of pregnancy will remain in effect.
- A $150 million-plus effort to allow recreational use of marijuana in Florida fizzled out Tuesday, falling short of the needed 60% voter approval and delivering a major victory for Gov. DeSantis. Trulieve, the state’s largest medical marijuana operator, pumped nearly $144.6 million into the proposed constitutional amendment. The Quincy-based company’s contributions made up more than 94% of the overall total of $152.27 million in cash raised by the Smart & Safe Florida political committee that sponsored the measure, which appeared as Amendment 3 on the ballot.
