The 2022 Florida gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 2022, to elect the governor of Florida, alongside other state and local elections. Incumbent Republican Governor Ron DeSantis won re-election in a landslide,Citations for Landslide victory:
defeating the Democratic Party nominee, Charlie Crist, who served as governor of Florida from 2007 to 2011 as a Republican and later as an independent. No Democrat has been elected governor of Florida since 1994.
With 59.4 percent of the vote, DeSantis won the largest margin of victory in a Florida gubernatorial election since 1982. Significantly, DeSantis won Miami-Dade County, which had been considered a Democratic stronghold and had last voted Republican in 2002, and Palm Beach County, which had not voted Republican since 1986. Crist conceded the election shortly after DeSantis was projected as the winner. DeSantis won 8 counties he lost in 2018.
According to exit polls, DeSantis won 65% of White voters, 13% of Black voters, and 58% of Latinos; of the latter group, DeSantis won 69% of Cubans and 56% of Puerto Ricans. DeSantis also won a majority of Latina women in Florida.
DeSantis's large margin of victory was in part due to him flipping Democratic stronghold Miami-Dade County for the first time since 2002, and Palm Beach County for the first time since 1986, as well as winning Hillsborough, Osceola, Pinellas, and St. Lucie counties for the first time since 2006. This was also the first gubernatorial election since 2006 in which a candidate received over 50% of the vote. His 19.4% margin of victory was the largest since 1982 and the largest for a Republican in state history, compared to 0.4% four years earlier. It was also the first time the governorship was won by double digits since 2002, and the first time it was won by over a million votes.
Significantly, Crist's 39.97% performance was the worst for a Democratic nominee for governor of Florida since 1916, a three candidate race. Republicans won all other statewide races by double digits; this is the first time since the end of Reconstruction that Democrats do not hold at least one of the statewide positions. DeSantis also made large gains among Hispanic voters, becoming the first Florida Republican in decades to win a majority of those voters. He also had a major fundraising advantage over Crist, setting an all-time record for a gubernatorial candidate.
Some analysts believe that this election marked the transition of Florida from being a swing state into a red state. Donald Trump would win Florida in 2024 by 13 percentage points, far exceeding his two prior performances in the state.
Background To qualify for the ballot in Florida, partisan candidates must first file with the Division of Elections of the Florida Department of State. After filing, a candidate must then qualify for the ballot by a deadline by either paying qualifying fees totaling 6% of the salary of the position sought, or obtaining sufficiently many signatures. Not all candidates who filed to run for governor subsequently qualified to appear on the ballot.
Republican primary Candidates Nominee Ron DeSantis, incumbent governor (2019-present)
Failed to qualify John Joseph Mercadante, Republican National Committee official and candidate for governor in 2018 Donald J. Peterson, marijuana activist
Declined Roger Stone, political consultant
Endorsements
Democratic primary
Candidates Nominee Charlie Crist, U.S. representative, former Republican governor of Florida and former attorney general of Florida
Eliminated in primary Nikki Fried, Florida commissioner of agriculture Cadance Daniel, consultant Robert Lee Willis, teacher and Baptist minister
Failed to qualify Robert Conner Ivan Graham, dentist Carlos Enrique Gutierrez, property manager and candidate for mayor of Miami Beach in 2021 Jonathan Karns, businessman Alex Lundmark, real estate agent and candidate for governor in 2018 Christine Powers Randy Zapata, legal advocate
Withdrawn Richard Dembinsky, engineer and candidate for state senate in 2016 David Nelson Freeman, businessman Timothy Mosley, charity founder Annette Taddeo, state senator and nominee for lieutenant governor in 2014 (running for Florida's 27th congressional district) (endorsed Crist)
Declined Dave Aronberg, Palm Beach County state attorney and former state senator Lauren Book, state senator Randolph Bracy, state senator (running for Florida's 10th congressional district) Val Demings, U.S. representative (running for U.S. Senate) Anna Eskamani, state representative Dan Gelber, mayor of Miami Beach and former state house minority leader (endorsed Crist) Andrew Gillum, former mayor of Tallahassee and nominee for governor in 2018 Rebekah Jones, former Florida Department of Health analyst (endorsed Fried) Al Lawson, U.S. representative (endorsed Crist) Stephanie Murphy, U.S. representative Jason Pizzo, state senator Sean Shaw, state representative and nominee for attorney general in 2018 (endorsed Crist)
Endorsements
Polling Graphical summary
Source of pollaggregationDatesadministeredDatesupdated CharlieCrist NikkiFried OtherMarginReal Clear PoliticsReal Clear PoliticsFebruary 7 – June 17, 2022June 20, 202240.0%23.3%36.7%Crist +16.7 Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Marginof error CharlieCrist NikkiFried AnnetteTaddeo Other UndecidedSt. Pete PollsSt. Pete PollsAugust 20–21, 20221,617 (LV)± 2.4%59%30%––11%Change Research (D)Change Research (D) August 12–14, 2022702 (LV)± 4.2%47%37%––16%University of North FloridaUniversity of North Florida August 8–12, 2022529 (LV)± 6.0%43%47%–5%6%Public Policy Polling (D)Public Policy Polling (D)August 8–9, 2022664 (LV)± 3.8%42%35%––23%St. Pete PollsSt. Pete PollsAugust 2–3, 20221,361 (LV)± 2.7%56%24%––20%GBAO (D)GBAO (D)July 27–31, 2022800 (LV)± 3.5%52%36%––12%Kaplan StrategiesKaplan StrategiesJuly 6, 2022671 (LV)± 3.8%39%39%––22%GBAO (D)GBAO (D)June 23–26, 2022600 (LV)± 4.0%55%34%––11%St. Pete PollsSt. Pete PollsJune 16–17, 20221,007 (LV)± 3.1%49%24%––27%Global Strategy Group (D)Global Strategy Group (D)June 8–13, 2022600 (LV)± 4.0%38%34%––29% June 6, 2022 Taddeo withdraws from the raceSt. Pete PollsSt. Pete PollsMay 2–3, 20221,859 (LV)± 2.3%52%19%5%–24%Sachs Media GroupSachs Media GroupApril 8–10, 2022700 (RV)± 3.7%35%20%4%–41%University of North FloridaUniversity of North Florida February 7–20, 2022271 (RV)± 6.0%27%19%4%8%44%Mason-DixonMason-DixonFebruary 7–10, 2022400 (LV)± 5.0%44%27%3%–26%Alvarado Strategies (R)Alvarado Strategies (R)February 20221,007 (LV)± 3.1%36%25%6%10%23%GBAO (D)GBAO (D)January 26–31, 2022800 (LV)± 3.5%54%28%7%–11%56%33%––11%Public Policy Polling (D)January 26–27, 2022582 (LV)± 4.1%36%34%––29%Public Policy Polling (D)Public Policy Polling (D)August 10–11, 2021274 (LV)± 5.9%33%36%––31%Susquehanna Polling & Research (R)August 4–10, 2021245 (RV)± 6.3%38%27%–5%30%Political Matrix (R)Political Matrix (R)June 9–11, 2021660 (LV)± 4.5%41%31%––29%St. Pete PollsSt. Pete PollsMay 24–26, 20212,752 (RV)± 1.9%55%22%–11%12%Victory Insights (R)Victory Insights (R)May 4, 2021232 (RV)± 7.0%53%30%–17%–SEA Polling (D)SEA Polling (D)April 15–20, 2021600 (LV)± 4.0%28%26%13%–34%
Results
Running mate selection In June 2022, Politico released a shortlist of 18 people who Crist was considering as his running mate. On August 26, four days after Crist won the gubernatorial primary, CBS News reported that he had selected Karla Hernández-Mats, one of the people on the Politico shortlist.
Selected Karla Hernández-Mats, president of the United Teachers of Dade
On shortlist María Celeste Arrarás, journalist and former Telemundo news anchor Manny Diaz, chair of the Florida Democratic Party and former mayor of Miami Fentrice Driskell, state representative and minority leader-designate for the 2024–2026 legislative session Anna Eskamani, state representative Anne Gannon, Palm Beach County Tax Collector and former state representative Dan Gelber, mayor of Miami Beach, former state senator, and nominee for Florida Attorney General in 2010 Jennifer Jenkins, Brevard County school board member Shevrin Jones, state senator Al Lawson, U.S. representative for Florida's 5th congressional district Amy Mercado, Orange County Property Appraiser and former state representative Wayne Messam, mayor of Miramar and candidate for president in 2020 Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, former U.S. representative for Florida's 26th congressional district Tina Polsky, state senator Bobby Powell, state senator Mary Ann Ruiz, attorney Sean Shaw, former state representative and nominee for Florida Attorney General in 2018 Marie Woodson, state representative
Independent and third-party candidates
Green Party
Withdrawn
Brian Moore, activist and perennial candidate (running for state senate)
Independent Party
Withdrawn
Gizmo Wexler, IT administrator
Libertarian Party
Declared Hector Roos
Declined Roger Stone, political activist and consultant
Independent candidates
Declared Carmen Jackie Gimenez
Failed to qualify Eugene H. Steele, attorney
Withdrawn Mark B. Graham, computer technician and candidate for president in 2016 Frank Hughes Jr., education consultant Jodi Gregory Jeloudov
Declined
David Jolly, former U.S. representative
Write-ins
Declared Piotr Blass, perennial candidate James Thompson, pastor
General election Debate 2022 Florida gubernatorial debate Date Host Moderator Link Participants Participant Absent Non-invitee Invitee Withdrawn Ron DeSantis Charlie Crist 1 October 24, 2022 WPEC-TV Liz QuirantesYouTubeYouTube
Predictions Source Ranking As of The Cook Political Report July 22, 2022Inside Elections July 22, 2022 Sabato's Crystal Ball October 31, 2022PoliticoApril 1, 2022 RCPJanuary 10, 2022Fox News May 12, 2022538October 18, 2022Elections DailyNovember 7, 2022
Post-primary endorsements
Polling Aggregate polls Source of pollaggregationDatesadministeredDatesupdated RonDeSantis (R) CharlieCrist (D) OtherMarginReal Clear PoliticsReal Clear PoliticsOctober 17 – November 6, 2022November 8, 202254.4%42.2%3.4%DeSantis +12.2FiveThirtyEightFiveThirtyEightOctober 30, 2022 – November 7, 2022November 8, 202254.5%42.4%3.0%DeSantis +12.1270 to win270 to winNovember 4–7, 2022November 8, 202254.0%41.8%4.2%DeSantis +12.2Average54.3%42.1%3.6%DeSantis +12.2