Florida, once the nation's premier swing state, is now trending Republican
For years, Florida voters have demonstrated their ability to swing an election. The state has gone back and forth since the 1990s, when Bill Clinton was president.
But former President Donald Trump saw his support rise in 2020. And now, in a historic shift, registered Republicans in Florida outnumber registered Democrats.
In Tuesday's midterms, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is running for reelection against Democratic challenger Charlie Crist — also former Republican governor of the state. Crist touts more moderate views than DeSantis, whose controversial approaches to issues like immigration and COVID-19 have made him a rising contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024.
One voter, Justin Kaplan, told CBS News at a restaurant in Miami that he didn't vote for DeSantis the first time and won't vote for him again, but he still thinks DeSantis has been "unfairly vilified."
"And I think that the national narrative, and certainly the narrative outside of this state of Florida, is absolutely not in line with what's really going on down here," he said.
Early voting numbers in the midterms showed that registered Republican voters cast more ballots than Democrats in Miami-Dade County, which means Republicans could take the heavily Democratic area.
According to voters, the top issues at stake in this election range from abortion to the economy to personal freedoms.
DeSantis often compares Florida to other states that are run by Democrats, and voters have taken notice.
"We have our freedoms here, you know, a lot more than the other states," Dave Hobin said at a restaurant in Melbourne.
Another voter said she feels DeSantis is "very family oriented."
"He, you know, cares about the people, doesn't, like, you know, doesn't BS around," said registered independent, Kathryn Graham, at a restaurant in Melbourne.
After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Florida passed a 15-week abortion ban expected to be upheld by the state Supreme Court.
Crist has said he would protect abortion rights in Florida if elected, something that Edith Owens believes is the most important issue in the campaign.
At a Crist rally in Miami, she expressed concern about DeSantis' support for the ban, saying "freedom is not free until you are free to make your own decisions."
When it was pointed out that DeSantis has made "freedom" a rallying cry of his campaign, Owens remarked "He's not [for] freedom. He has stolen our freedom from the state of Florida."