DeSantis, Florida Republicans take an early victory lap ahead of November election

Florida Republicans are taking an early victory lap.

With a hefty voter-registration advantage and total control over state government, the Florida Republican Party rallied donors and deep-pocketed supporters at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Hollywood on Saturday evening. The gathering — dubbed a “victory dinner” — served as an early celebration of what Florida Republicans predict will be a landmark election in November, when former President Donald Trump will face off against Vice President Kamala Harris.

Once the ultimate battleground state where Republicans and Democrats fought tooth-and-nail for public offices up and down the ticket, Florida has lurched to the right in recent years. Saturday’s dinner — featuring speeches from Republican heavyweights like Gov. Ron DeSantis and U.S. Sen Rick Scott — focused more on the presidential contest than the need for the GOP to rack up down-ballot wins.

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“Victory is in our sites. America’s future is in our hands. America’s destiny is in our control and America’s prosperity is in our hearts and souls,” said Kimberly Guilfoyle, a top surrogate for Trump’s campaign who’s also engaged to the former president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination and is now seeking to boost Trump’s bid, touted Florida as a “layup for Republican candidates,” arguing that the GOP’s nearly 1-million-person voter registration advantage over Democrats made the state an easy win for his party.

“Presidential elections — we’d be on razor’s edge about the state of Florida,” DeSantis said. “Well now, we’ve got over a million more registered Republicans than Democrats.”

At one point in the night, state Attorney General Ashley Moody dubbed herself the “anti-Kamala,” casting Florida as a bulwark against the vice president’s candidacy.

While DeSantis expressed little concern about the ultimate outcome of the presidential race, he used most of his speech to assail two proposed constitutional amendments that will be on the Florida ballot in November: one that would legalize recreational marijuana use and another that would safeguard abortion access up to fetal viability or if deemed medically necessary.

DeSantis cast both proposals as threats to the political and moral fabric of Florida. He said the marijuana proposal — dubbed Amendment 3 — would effectively be a giveaway to powerful corporations. He said the other proposal — Amendment 4, which would effectively override Florida’s six-week abortion ban and expand access to the procedure — was overly broad and urged even abortion-rights advocates to oppose it.

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“This is a bad amendment ,” DeSantis said. “It should not be in the constitution. And that’s true if you’re pro-life, but honestly even if you’re not.”

Those two proposals may be Republicans’ biggest concerns in Florida this year. Polls show both of them with the support of most voters . Yet there are reasons for Florida Republicans to feel confident. A one-time battleground state, Republicans have racked up a hefty voter-registration advantage over Democrats in the state in recent years, and have virtually total control over the state government.

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Still, Republicans on Saturday sought to stave off complacency among their voters. Evan Power, the chairman of the state GOP, urged Republicans to “run like we’re 10 points behind.” DeSantis warned supporters against believing that GOP wins in Florida are a done deal.

“Don’t take this for granted,” DeSantis said. “Just as quickly as we’ve gone in this direction, you can see it unraveling.”

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