Ron DeSantis has been an decidedly activist governor during his seven-plus years leading Florida.
When it comes to filling vacant legislative seats, however, DeSantis at times has been lackadaisical in scheduling special legislative elections. For proof, look at two of the special legislative elections underway in three Florida counties with Election Day scheduled for Tuesday.
In Florida’s Senate District 14 seat in Hillsborough County and in the House District 87 district in Palm Beach County, voters have lacked representation at the state level for seven months (including through the recent legislative session). That’s because after the governor appointed lawmakers representing those districts to other positions last summer, he took more than two months to just announce election dates to replace them.
On Aug.12, DeSantis appointed SD 14 state Senator Jay Collins to serve as lieutenant governor. Six days later, he appointed HD 87 Rep. Mike Caruso to serve as Palm Beach County clerk of the circuit court and comptroller. Both are Republicans representing what were previously considered swing districts.
When no election date had been announced by the end of September in either race, the ACLU of Florida sued the governor on behalf of one Tampa voter regarding the SD 14 seat. DeSantis announced the election dates for the SD 14 and HD 87 seats on Oct. 24.
READ MORE: Proposal would impose timelines for governor to set special election dates
After Polk County Republican Rep. Josie Tomkow announced on Nov. 7 that she would resign her House District 51 seat to run for the SD 14 seat, DeSantis announced the special election dates for that seat five days later.
Those delays prompted Sen. Tina Polsky, D-Boca Raton, to file legislation (SB 460) during the recently concluded legislative session to require the governor to set the dates for special primary and general elections within 14 days after the vacancy occurs. The bill was approved in two Senate committees but didn’t advance to a third. The House companion never moved at all.
In its lawsuit challenging his delay in announcing the Hillsborough state Senate races, the ACLU noted that for the 65 vacancies arising between 1999 and 2020 (one year after DeSantis took office), it took on average a week for a governor to call a special election. DeSantis has taken much longer of late to call for special elections, but not always. When then-GOP state Sen. Blaise Ingoglia resigned his Senate District 11 seat on July 18 after being appointed chief financial officer, the governor took just four days to call a special election.
Three special elections are taking place right now. Voting by mail started weeks ago, while early in-person voting began Saturday. Again, the final day to vote is Tuesday, the 24th.
- Hillsborough County’s SD 14: Republican Josie Tomkow vs. Democrat Brian Nathan. As of noon Tuesday, 41,613 people had voted.
- Palm Beach County’s HD 87: Republican Jon Maples vs. Democrat Emily Gregory. As of noon Tuesday, 12,774 people had voted.
- Polk County’s HD 51: Republican Hilary Holley vs. Democrat Edwin Pérez. As of noon Tuesday, 8,234 people had voted.
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