Politics of Florida reflect a state that has experienced conflict between its liberal southern region and its traditionally conservative northern region. Politics often revolve around budgeting and how money for budgets should be raised.
Florida was originally part of the Solid South, as Democrats overwhelmingly won state and federal elections during the hundred years following the Civil War. However, in 1937, the requirement to pay a poll tax was repealed by the state legislature, allowing poorer Floridians to vote, and coupled with a growing tourist industry in the mid-20th century that attracted Northern retirees, the state became electorally competitive earlier than the rest of the South. Since 1928, the state has only voted for the losing presidential candidate three times, all for losing Republicans in 1960, 1992, and 2020. In 1966, Claude Kirk was elected the first Republican governor of Florida since Reconstruction. This was followed in 1968, with Republicans winning a Senate seat in the state for the first time since Reconstruction.
The Florida Elections Commission was established in 1973. In 2005, Jeb Bush signed a bill to abolish primary runoff elections, resulting in all primary and general elections being determined by plurality rather than majority.
The state is dominated by Republicans on the state level, as Democrats have not held the governorship or either house of the legislature since 1999. Republicans currently have veto-proof majorities in both houses of the Florida legislature. However, the state has become increasingly red since the late 2010s, as in 2018, Republicans captured both Senate seats in the state for the first time since Reconstruction. In 2020, Florida voted 7.8 points right of the nation as a whole, the furthest it has voted from the nation since 1988, and it was the first election since 1992 that Florida backed the losing candidate. In 2022, Republicans won their largest statewide victories since Reconstruction and neared 60% of the vote. In 2021, registered Republicans surpassed Democrats for the first time in state history.
Florida approved its lottery by amending the constitution in 1984. It approved slot machines in Broward and Miami- Dade County in 2004. It has disapproved casinos (outside of sovereign Seminole and Miccosukee tribal areas) three times: 1978, 1986, and 1994.
Federal representation
Florida currently has 28 House districts In the 118th Congress, 8 of Florida's seats are held by Democrats and 20 are held by Republicans. There are as follows:
The 1st district, represented by Matt Gaetz (R) The 2nd district, represented by Neal Dunn (R) The 3rd district, represented by Kat Cammack (R) The 4th district, represented by Aaron Bean (R) The 5th district, represented by John Rutherford (R) The 6th district, represented by Michael Waltz (R) The 7th district, represented by Cory Mills (R) The 8th district, represented by Bill Posey (R) The 9th district, represented by Darren Soto (D) The 10th district, represented by Maxwell Frost (D) The 11th district, represented by Daniel Webster (R) The 12th district, represented by Gus Bilirakis (R) The 13th district, represented by Anna Paulina Luna (R) The 14th district, represented by Kathy Castor (D) The 15th district, represented by Laurel Lee (R) The 16th district, represented by Vern Buchanan (R) The 17th district, represented by Greg Steube (R) The 18th district, represented by Scott Franklin (R) The 19th district, represented by Byron Donalds (R) The 20th district, represented by Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D) The 21st district, represented by Brian Mast (R) The 22nd district, represented by Lois Frankel (D) The 23rd district, represented by Jared Moskowitz (D) The 24th district, represented by Frederica Wilson (D) The 25th district, represented by Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D) The 26th district, represented by Mario Diaz-Balart (R) The 27th district, represented by Maria Elvira Salazar (R) The 28th district, represented by Carlos A. Giménez (R)
Florida's two United States Senators are Republicans Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, serving since 2010 and 2019, respectively.
Florida is part of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida, United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, and the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida in the federal judiciary. The district's cases are appealed to the Atlanta-based United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.