During a Wednesday morning press conference, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called losing Texas “an extinction-level event” for the national Republican Party.
DeSantis — who didn’t run for reelection and is rumored to be eyeing a presidential run in 2028 — said Florida is now the “only state that remains under Republican control” after the party lost Texas. His remarks appeared to refer to Florida’s standing among the nation’s largest Republican strongholds.
Republican Rep. Byron Donalds defeated Democrat David Jolly by fewer than 2 percentage points to become Florida’s next governor. Republican Ashley Moody also defeated Democrat Angie Nixon in Florida’s U.S. Senate race by approximately 3 percentage points.
Texas Republicans lost every statewide race in Tuesday’s generational upset, including contests for governor, attorney general, lieutenant governor, railroad commissioner and agriculture commissioner. The GOP also lost four seats on the Texas Supreme Court and forfeited control of the Texas House.
“Over my lifetime, Texas has been the crown jewel of Republican politics,” DeSantis said.
Although DeSantis touted Florida’s Republican dominance under his leadership, he argued that Texas has long been considered the standard-bearer for the national party.
“No one holds a candle on the Republican side to the Lone Star State,” he said. “And yet, not only did they lose a very highly publicized U.S. Senate race — they lost everything.”
The Florida governor also warned that the fallout from Texas’ political upheaval will be long-lasting.
“Let’s just be clear — that is going to hurt. Not just for the next two years. That’s something that can reverberate for a decade or more,” DeSantis said. “And if the Republican Party doesn’t have Texas as an anchor, then we are not going to be viable nationally.”
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