Florida’s Republican legislators delivered a host of policy wins to their conservative constituents during this year’s legislative session with an eye not just on their own reelections, but on President Donald Trump’s, too.Uniting around an agenda that Democrats were powerless to stop, the GOP-controlled Legislature spent 61 days sending signals to its base and delivering on promises to faithful party donors, flexing its muscles on immigration, school vouchers and everything in between.
If that wasn’t enough to deliver the state’s crucial electoral votes to a polarizing president next year, the party also threw up roadblocks to voting, imposing conditions on tens of thousands former felons who thought they’d had their rights restored after Floridians overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment in November.
“It’s all battlefield preparation,” said Rick Wilson, a Florida-based GOP consultant and Trump critic.
State GOP leaders downplayed the political implications of the session. But as lawmakers wrapped up their work on Saturday, the Capitol was full of smiling, boisterous Republicans eager to bask in their victories.
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05.08.2025