A general election was held in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

on November 6, 2018. All of Florida's executive officers were up for election as well as Florida's Class I

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

seat and all 27 seats in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

Primary election Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

s were on August 28, 2018. The Republicans took control of the U.S. Senate seat held by three-term Democrat

Bill Nelson Clarence William Nelson II (born September 29, 1942) is an American politician and attorney serving as the administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Nelson previously served as a United States Senator from Flor ...

in an upset while the Democrats picked up two House seats as well as the office of the Commissioner of Agriculture. The Republican gains in the state despite the trend towards Democrats nationwide were part of Florida's transition from a

swing state In American politics, the term swing state (also known as battleground state or purple state) refers to any state that could reasonably be won by either the Democratic or Republican candidate in a statewide election, most often referring to pre ...

to a

red state Starting with the 2000 United States presidential election, the terms "red state" and "blue state" have referred to U.S. states whose voters vote predominantly for one party — the Republican Party in red states and the Democratic Party in b ...

United States Senate

Senator Bill Nelson (D) ran for a fourth term against Governor Rick Scott (R). The race ended up being the most expensive Senate race in U.S. history. Nelson was narrowly defeated by then-Governor

Rick Scott Richard Lynn Scott ( Myers, born December 1, 1952) is an American politician serving as the junior United States senator from Florida since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he was the 45th governor of Florida from 2011 to 2019. Scott ...

. Nelson was the only statewide Democrat to carry

Monroe County Monroe County may refer to seventeen counties in the United States, all named for James Monroe: * Monroe County, Alabama *Monroe County, Arkansas * Monroe County, Florida * Monroe County, Georgia *Monroe County, Illinois *Monroe County, Indian ...

United States House of Representatives

Florida elects 27

U.S. Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from its

congressional districts Congressional districts, also known as electoral districts and legislative districts, electorates, or wards in other nations, are divisions of a larger administrative region that represent the population of a region in the larger congressional bod ...

. Democrat

Donna Shalala Donna Edna Shalala ( ; born February 14, 1941) is an American politician and academic who served in the Carter and Clinton administrations, as well as in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2019 to 2021. Shalala is a recipient of the Presid ...

defeated

Maria Elvira Salazar Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial *170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 *Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, da ...

to succeed retiring Republican congresswoman

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (; born Ileana Carmen Ros y Adato, July 15, 1952) is a politician and lobbyist from Miami, Florida, who represented from 1989 to 2019. By the end of her tenure, she was the most senior U.S. Representative from Florida. She wa ...

in the 27th District and

Debbie Mucarsel-Powell Debbie Jessika Mucarsel-Powell (born January 18, 1971) is an Ecuadorian-born American politician and academic administrator who served as a U.S. representative for from 2019 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, her district covered the w ...

defeated incumbent Republican congressman

Carlos Curbelo Carlos Luis Curbelo (born March 1, 1980) is an American politician who served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for Florida's 26th congressional district from 2015 to 2019. In 2018 United States House of Represen ...

in the 26th District. This changed Florida's congressional delegation from a 16–11 Republican majority to a narrow 14–13 majority. Results of the 2018 United States House of Representatives elections in Florida by district:

Governor

2018 Florida gubernatorial election results map by county

Then-incumbent Republican

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

(since 2011) was term-limited and prohibited from seeking a third consecutive term. Democratic Mayor of Tallahassee

Andrew Gillum Andrew Demetric Gillum (born July 26, 1979) is an American former politician who served as the 126th mayor of Tallahassee from 2014 to 2018. He served as a Tallahassee city commissioner from 2003 until 2014, first elected at the age of 23. He i ...

ran against Republican former U.S. Representative

Ron DeSantis Ronald Dion DeSantis (; born September 14, 1978) is an American politician serving as the 46th governor of Florida since January 2019. A member of the Republican Party, DeSantis represented Florida's 6th district in the U.S. House of Represe ...

. DeSantis narrowly defeated Gillum.

Attorney General

Incumbent Republican

Florida Attorney General The Florida attorney general is an elected cabinet official in the U.S. state of Florida. The attorney general serves as the chief legal officer of the state and is head of the Florida Department of Legal Affairs. The office is one of Florida's t ...

Pam Bondi Pamela Jo Bondi (born November 17, 1965) is an American attorney, lobbyist, and politician. A Republican, she served as the 37th Florida attorney general from 2011 to 2019, the first woman elected to the office. In 2020, Bondi was one of Presid ...

(since 2011) was term-limited and prohibited from seeking a third consecutive term.

Ashley Moody Ashley Brooke Moody (born March 28, 1975) is an American attorney and politician serving as the Florida attorney general since January 2019. During her tenure as Florida attorney general, Moody has supported lawsuits to invalidate the Affordable ...

, former judge for the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit of Florida, defeated state representative Frank White to win the Republican nomination. Sean Shaw, a state representative, defeated attorney Ryan Torrens to win the Democratic nomination. Moody defeated Shaw by approximately 6 percentage points, giving her the largest margin for a Republican candidate for the 2018 elections.

Chief Financial Officer

Incumbent Republican

Chief Financial Officer of Florida The chief financial officer of Florida is an elected statewide constitutional officer of Florida. The office was created in 2002 following the 1998 reforms of the Florida Cabinet. The CFO is a combination of the former offices of comptroller and ...

Jimmy Patronis Jimmy Theo Patronis Jr. (born April 13, 1972) is an American politician serving as the chief financial officer of the state of Florida. He was previously a member of the Florida House of Representatives representing the 6th district, which includ ...

was appointed to the office in June 2017 and sought a full term in 2018. Patronis successfully won a full term and defeated former state senator Jeremy Ring by approximately 3 percentage points.

Commission of Agriculture

Incumbent Republican

Florida Commissioner of Agriculture The commissioner of agriculture is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of government of the U.S. state of Florida that heads the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS). Elected for a four-year mandate that is ...

Adam Putnam Adam Hughes Putnam (born July 31, 1974) is an American politician who served as the 11th Commissioner of Agriculture of Florida from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives for fi ...

(since 2011) was term-limited and prohibited from seeking a third consecutive term. State representative Matt Caldwell ran against lobbyist attorney Nikki Fried. Fried became the only statewide elected Democrat from Florida following the 2018 election.

State Legislature

20 out of 40 seats in the

Florida Senate The Florida Senate is the upper house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida House of Representatives being the lower house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopted ...

and all 120 seats of the

Florida House of Representatives The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida Senate being the upper house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopted ...

were up for election. The balance of political power before the election for each chamber was:

Senate

House of Representatives

The balance of political power after the election was:

Senate

House of Representatives

Constitutional Amendments

Florida voters voted on 12 constitutional amendments. An amendment requires sixty percent to pass. Amendment 8 was removed from the ballot before the elections.

References

External links

Candidates
at

Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected officials in si ...

Candidates
at

Ballotpedia Ballotpedia is a nonprofit and nonpartisan online political encyclopedia that covers federal, state, and local politics, elections, and public policy in the United States. The website was founded in 2007. Ballotpedia is sponsored by the Lucy Bur ...

Campaign finance
at

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{{2018 United States elections