Photo courtesy of Getty Images
By Mahika Kukday
America awoke on Nov. 6 to Donald Trump returning to the presidency, four years after his first term in the coveted position ended.
His defiant political comeback will focus on things like immigration policies that echo his “Build a Wall” stance of years past, higher tariffs on foreign goods, and a crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion policies.
The Associated Press called Trump’s return to the White House at 5:34 a.m. on Tuesday by declaring him the winner of Wisconsin’s 10 electoral college votes – the last few he needed to push him past the 270 threshold.
Defeating Democrat Kamala Harris by 69 electoral college votes, Trump’s comeback is likely being celebrated in Florida as the state stood firmly red on election day. The former swing state has “trended increasingly Republican and has lost that status,” NPR reported.
56.1% of Floridians voted for Trump. Harris’ supporters were concentrated in Broward, Orange and Leon counties, but nevertheless, the race was called in Trump’s favor just an hour after polls closed in Florida.
Photo courtesy of AP
Harris delivered a heartfelt concession speech on Nov. 7 at her alma mater, Howard University.
“Sometime the fight takes a while. That doesn’t mean we won’t win,” she said, urging her supporters to continue pushing for democracy. Harris emphasized a peaceful transfer of power and pride in how her campaign was run, according to CBS News.
Trump’s political comeback will be accompanied by a majority Republican U.S. Senate, with 53 Republicans – four of those being flipped seats – and 43 Democrats as of 8:22 a.m. on Nov. 8. The AP is yet to call two seats.
Control over the U.S. House of Representatives is the race to watch, with over two dozen races still undecided as of this morning, according to the AP. With 199 Democrats and 211 Republicans in power currently, the red party has picked up another flipped seat.
As of 8:55 a.m. this morning, Trump is set to be the first Republican in 20 years to win the popular vote, already winning 50.9% of it. Millions of votes are still uncounted in Arizona and Nevada, but the states currently lean right, according to the AP.
Political engagement initiatives have been prevalent across USF St. Petersburg since the start of the semester. At the waterfront campus, support for Harris and the democratic party has been on display for months.
The USF St. Petersburg College Democrats hosted a debate watch party, engaged in phone banking for the Harris campaign, and more. USF St. Pete Generation Action, the campus Planned Parenthood representative club, often tabled with Yes on 4 to secure “yes” votes on the state amendment that would create a constitutional right to abortion.
Despite their best efforts, Amendment 4 failed because it fell 3% short of the 60% super majority needed to pass. Amendment 3, which would legalize adult personal use of marijuana, went the same way. Both were predicted to gain support from young voters, and were often campaigned for at USF St. Petersburg.
Only two out of the six constitutional amendments on the ballot were passed: Amendment 2, which guarantees a right to hunt and fish, and Amendent 5, which would provide an annual inflation adjustment on a property’s taxable value.
USF campuses fall in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Sarasota and Manatee counties. Here is a roundup of local and state election results.
School Tax Referendums
All counties mentioned above successfully passed tax referendums to support schools.
Photo courtesy of Pinellas County
One that was particularly watched as the election approached, was Hillsborough’s proposed millage tax increase that would support staff salaries. A longtime tax that also supported schools – but in a different way – called the CIT, was also up for renewal and officials worried that they could compete for support.
Both were passed.
Hillsborough
Renewal of Community Investment Half-Cent Sales Tax
- Yes – 51.55%
- No – 48.45%
Hillsborough County Millage for Public School Students
- Yes – 66.55%
- No – 33.45%
Pinellas
Approval of One Mill Ad Valorem Tax for School District Operating Expenses
- Yes – 67.8%
- No – 32.2%
Sarasota
School tax referendum
- Yes – 84.04%
- No – 15.96%
Manatee
School tax referendum
- Yes – 82.54%
- No – 17.46%
U.S. Congressional Races
Rick Scott will return to represent Florida in the U.S. Senate, after winning 55.6% of the vote against Democratic challenger Debbie Mucarsel-Powell. She campaigned on lowering costs and increasing abortion access, according to BallotPedia, but fell short to the Republican incumbent.
Tampa Bay reelected several Republican incumbents to the U.S. House of Representatives. Perhaps the most hotly contested race of all was Anna Paulina Luna’s deep red campaign against Democrat Whitney Fox. Luna won 54% of the vote to regain control over District 13, delivering a key blow to Democrats who had hoped to flip the seat, the Tampa Bay Times reported.
In Pasco County, all four Republican incumbents were reelected with a comfortable majority of over 60% of the votes.
Representatives Kathy Castor and Maxwell Frost kept their seats. They will return to serve districts 14 and 10 respectively. Castor is the first woman to represent Hillsborough and Pinellas counties in U.S. Congress, and has been in the position since 2006.
A Hillsborough County Commissioner, Patricia Kemp, ran against U.S. Rep. Laurel Lee for District 15’s seat. She lost out to Republican incumbent Laurel Lee.
Click here to see results for all U.S. Congressional seats representing Florida.
Photo courtesy of Cliff McBride
Pinellas – click here for Pinellas County election results.
Hillsborough – click here for Hillsborough County election results.
Sarasota – click here for Sarasota County election results.
Manatee – click here for Manatee County election results.
