Legislative Update
NUCA of Florida Scores Big Wins in Election Cycle !
By Kari Hebrank , Carlton Fields
In case you missed it , your governmental affairs team at NUCA of Florida has spent the last several months touring the state , vetting candidates in hopes of securing “ wins ” with industry-friendly candidates at the ballot box . Out of the 82 candidates NUCA of Florida supported , only one candidate lost his bid to return to Tallahassee in the General Election , and three NUCA-supported candidates lost in the Primary Election . NUCA of Florida contributed an historic grand total of $ 93,500 in the 2-year election cycle ! Your team also canvassed for candidates and waved signs , including during the weekend , to ensure our champions would return to the Florida Legislature .
Our candidate Democrat Rep . Tom Keen lost with 48 % of the vote to Republican challenger , Erika Booth who garnered 52 % of the vote . Keen had previously beat Booth in a Special Election in 2023 . In another key race , NUCA FL played both sides , with the Democrat incumbent besting the Republican challenger . Democrat Rep . Lindsay Cross kept her seat in HD 63 pulling ahead of Republican Ed Montanari . One Republican lawmaker , Caroline Amesty , lost 49.8 % -50.2 % to Leonard Spencer , a Democrat who worked for Disney as an executive . The House Republicans flipped HD 93 from blue to red when Wellington Mayor Anne Gerwig , a Republican , managed to beat Democrat incumbent Rep . Katherine Waldon by 356 votes .
All in all , the Florida House gained one Republican seat , improving their Super Majority to 85 Republicans to 35 Democrats , while the Senate Republicans held on to their 28-12 majority . All 28 Florida Congressional seats were re-elected as was US Senator , Senator Rick Scott . At the time of publication for this article , Florida US Senator Marco Rubio has been chosen to serve as Secretary of State under the Trump Administration and US Congressman Matt Gaetz has been selected to serve as the US Attorney General . Both appointments will cause a “ domino ” effect as political contenders seek to fill the now empty posts . Additionally , US Congressman Mike Waltz is heading to DC to lead as National Security Advisor , freeing up another seat in Congress .
Out of the six constitutional amendments on the ballot , only Constitutional Amendment 2 ( the right to fish and hunt ) and Constitutional Amendment 5 ( homestead property tax relief ) passed , while voters rejected the other four amendments , and even though $ 150M was spent in support of Amendment 3 relating to recreational marijuana , only 57 % of the voters approved the measure , just short of the 60 % threshold . Florida has a 60 % approval mandate for any amendments to become law as part of the State Constitution .
10 Ditchmen November / December