Florida Democrats grapple with uncertain future after midterm wipeout

Democrats are facing an existential crisis in Florida after a red wave engulfed the nation’s once-premier battleground state.

The scale of the Democratic wipeout in Florida is hard to understate. Tuesday’s elections saw Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R) win landslide victories and Republicans clinch supermajorities in both chambers of the state legislature. For the first time since Reconstruction, no Democrat will hold statewide office in Florida.

The election results have only intensified the infighting and soul-searching that have long roiled the state Democratic Party. The question on many Democrats’ minds now isn’t whether they can mount a comeback in the next few years, but whether they can even remain a viable political force.