On Tuesday night, shortly after the remaining polls closed in Florida, Decision Desk HQ called the Senate race there in favor of Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), who was seeking reelection while being challenged by Rep. Val Demings (D-FL).
The race was called at 8:00pm. With 88 percent of the vote in, Rubio leads by double digits, 56.66 percent to Demings' 42.30 percent.
Decision Desk HQ projects Marco Rubio (R) wins re-election to the U.S. Senate in Florida.#DecisionMade: 8:00pm EST
— Decision Desk HQ (@DecisionDeskHQ) November 9, 2022
Watch our livestream: https://t.co/ebV3OEuY4a pic.twitter.com/ZdT7Hu6g8q
While Florida is considered to be going increasingly red, Demings was considered something of a rising star in the Democratic Party. While forecasts and polls favored Rubio, Demings' loss is stunning when it comes to the amount of money she spent and raised for this race, which was more than Rubio.
Rep. Val Demings (D-FL) massively outraised and outspent Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) -- Demings took in a $70 million haul -- yet NBC has already called the race for Rubio just shortly after all polls closed. A big defeat for big money in politics. pic.twitter.com/oGovqOPxUN
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) November 9, 2022
Demings revealed herself to be far too radical for a Republican state, especially in how she dismissed the top of mind issue of inflation, claiming it was only such an important issue because Rubio was talking about it. She instead chose to prioritize abortion, like so many other Democrats, to their folly, have done. Demings also had a less than stellar debate performance last month, to put it politely.
Decision Desk HQ also called the race for Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) in his reelection bid against Charlie Crist, who was running this time as a Democrat. A Republican, Anna Paulina Luna, was elected to fill Crist's House seat, which he resigned from to run for governor.
Pivotal to the race was how well Rubio and DeSantis performed in Miami-Dade County, which was trending over Twitter as a result, in addition to "Florida" and "Rubio." In Miami-Dade, Rubio won there with 53.36 percent to Demings' 45.76 percent.
Big lead for DeSantis in Miami-Dade as well in the early returns. pic.twitter.com/QWutJrtZLL
— Kevin Tober (@KevinTober94) November 9, 2022
Support came pouring in for Rubio, including from RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel.
Congratulations @RonDeSantisFL and @marcorubio on your amazing victories!
— Ronna McDaniel (@GOPChairwoman) November 9, 2022
And congrats to @VoteAPL and @CoryMillsFL! Two of our first flips of the night!