Midterm elections in Florida resulted in the win of Republican incumbent Rick Scott. The results, announced Tuesday night, also show a Republican majority in Congress.
The election had a positive response from UM College Republicans (UMCR), who were proud that their campaigning efforts paid off.
“We spent countless hours knocking on doors and making phone calls with the Republican Party to make sure we kept Florida working with governor Rick Scott, and so of course we are thrilled to see him in office for another four years,” said Olivia Escandell, PR chair for UMCR.
Members of the University of Miami Young and College Democrats (UMYCD) were unsatisfied with the results due to the continuation of Rick Scott’s term as Florida governor.
“We are extremely disappointed in the results of yesterday’s election,” said UMYCD President Ishtpreet Singh. “While our efforts helped lead to a blue Miami-Dade, we had hoped that Floridians as a whole would have turned out in stronger numbers to express their dissatisfaction with the current leadership.”
Amendment One was passed, therefore allowing for 33 percent of net revenue from the existing excise tax on documents to be put into the Land Acquisition Trust Fund for 20 years.
UMCR was pleased to see the passage of the first proposition.
“Republicans do love the environment and we are glad that voters are behind efforts to protect this beautiful state that God has made for us to enjoy,” Escandell said.
The second amendment regarding the legalization of medical marijuana was not passed. It lost by a three percent margin; it needed 60 percent of votes to pass but only received 57. The total votes against the legalization of medical marijuana was 42 percent.
Both UMCR and UMYCD did not expect the amendment to be rejected.
“The majority of Floridians were in support of the idea,” Singh said.
Republicans now lead in Congress with 52 seats in the Senate and 244 seats in the House of Representatives. So far, there is also a Republican lead with regards to state governors with 31 seats filled by republicans and 17 by democrats.
“We are thrilled to have party majority in both houses for the first time in 8 years, but unfortunately realize that despite the will of the people in voting in conservative representation, we will need to look out for Obama passing executive orders and going against the people’s will during his last 2 years in office,” Escandell said.
Featured photo courtesy “CAVE CANEM” via Flickr.