The South Florida Sun Sentinel denounced Florida as a "crimson hellscape" Wednesday after Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the GOP won decisive victories across the Sunshine State.
"Nice knowing you, Florida," the Sun Sentinel editorial board wrote the day after the midterm elections.
The newspaper has the highest circulation in south Florida.
"After Tuesday's stunning election results, the state's political transformation is now nearly complete from deep purple battlegrounds to crimson hellscape, an ideal launch pad for Gov. Ron DeSantis' presidential aspirations," wrote the editorial board, later to replace "hellscape" with "landscape."
Editors accused DeSantis of "racial gerrymandering" and said it would be "impossible for Democrats to slow down an extremist GOP agenda."
"We now await a second-term agenda that may feature an open-carry gun law, tighter abortion restrictions, new strategies to suppress the vote and more charter flights for out-of-state migrants, presented with even more of the governor's trademark hubris," wrote the board.
The Sun Sentinel credited DeSantis for a "19-point blowout victory" that was "historic and nothing short of astounding." He carried 62 of 67 counties, establishing "a sea of red reflecting an epic Democratic collapse" in Florida.
DeSantis earned more than 1.5 million votes than his opponent, former Gov. Charlie Crist, a Democrat. In 2018, DeSantis won by only 33,000 votes over former Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, a Democrat.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., also had a double-digit victory over Rep. Val Demings, D-Fla.
"For the first time since after the Civil War, not a single Democrat holds a statewide office," said the editorial board.
"After this midterm meltdown, Florida Democrats have dug themselves such a deep hole that it's impossible to see a path to relevance," the board wrote, suggesting the party "not to point fingers or seek scapegoats" but instead focus on "a long-term strategy to engage young people and Hispanics, register voters and recruit stronger candidates."
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