Would you trust the Florida Legislature to pick the next U.S. Senator for you?
News and informed commentary from a Florida perspective
Gov. Ron DeSantis is calling the Florida Legislature back into special session next week to help out his frenemy, Donald Trump, rig the midterm elections in the G.O.P.’s favor.
He wants legislators to redraw congressional districts to lean Republican even more so than now, where the G.O.P. already claims 20 out of the state’s 28 U.S. House seats.
Like that’s not enough.
Floridians hate this idea by a wide margin, according to polls. And there’s evidence that at least some members of the Florida House and Senate aren’t all that swelled up about the idea, either. The smarter ones among them realize it could backfire, and by the time they’re done taking their Sharpies to the state map, they could actually end up helping Democrats.
Wouldn’t that be a hoot!
So, it remains to be seen where all this Sturm and Drang will lead, but if it’s anything like the regular session that recently ended, they won’t accomplish much.
That’s right: The Florida Legislature has one important job—craft a state budget. And they not only couldn’t get that done in time, they’ve now delayed yet another special session on the budget because they still can’t figure it out.
And it is into these ineffectual hands that our Founding Fathers entrusted the task of naming U.S. Senators.
I realize that’s quite a segue—from Florida to the Founders, but I’ll explain.
You see, April 8 was the anniversary of the ratification of the 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
This year, when Floridians go to the polls, voters will have to power to decide — among other races on the November ballot—who will be the state’s next member of the United States Senate, a periodic task that we take for granted.
But it wasn’t always that way.
The Founders, in their wisdom, granted that authority—not to ordinary citizens—but to state legislatures.
Sure, the people could directly elect their representatives in the lower chamber of Congress, the House, but, much like the British House of Lords, membership of the Senate would not be entrusted to the rabble.
Ironic, right, given we’d just fought a war to free ourselves from the English way.
But that’s how things stood until April, 1913, when, after a series of scandals, the 17th Amendment was ratified, giving the power to the people to directly elect members to the upper chamber of Congress.
Florida, as it turns out, failed to vote on the amendment—not that it mattered; enough states did. But it was a portent of political ineffectiveness to come.
As far as Florida was concerned, things were just fine. And if the rest of the country hadn’t overruled them, well, the same bozos in Tallahassee who couldn’t pass a budget in the last session (and who totally failed to name the flamingo the state bird) would still be entrusted with this important task.
Our current senator, Ashley Moody, only has the job because she was appointed to the post by DeSantis when Marco Rubio quit to become Trump’s Secretary of State.
Were the 17th Amendment not ratified, then the Democrats currently vying for the party’s nomination wouldn’t have a prayer of being considered by the Legislature. Given the overwhelming Republican majority, Moody likely would have gotten the nod uncontested.
But, as it turns out, Democratic voters will have a handful of wannabe senators on the August primary ballot. The frontrunners, as this was written, are Alex Vindman, a retired U.S. Army officer, and state Rep. Angie Nixon.
And the winner of that contest will square off with Moody in November. All thanks to the 17th Amendment.
Florida’s failure to endorse the direct election of U.S. senators was not its only lapse.
Seven years later, the states were given yet another opportunity to fix a glaring oversight by the Founding Fathers—this time to give women the right to vote.
The 19th Amendment passed on August 18, 1920, but, once again, Florida sat out the decision, thus continuing its pattern of failing to get the job done on time.
While our fair state never has gotten around to ratifying the 17th Amendment, the Florida Legislature finally mustered the energy to vote on the 19th Amendment, but not until 1969—49 years later.
Incredibly, there are actually some ultra conservatives—modern day Tories—who claim that the direct election of senators is a bad idea, and that we should return to the days of yesteryear and the old House of Lords model.
Not hard to figure out why when you consider that as of early 2026, Republicans control 28 state legislatures and 57 chambers, while Democrats only control 18 legislatures and 39 chambers.
Sends a chill up the spine to think of it, doesn’t it? The same clowns who can’t draw up a state budget on time being in charge of naming our senators?
Enjoy your right to vote while you still have it.
J.C. Bruce is the founder of Tropic Press, a Florida online news service dedicated to sharing news and commentary relevant to Florida readers. Bruce is an award-winning former newspaper editor, journalist and author living in Florida, his native state.
Onward thru the fog
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed if you are a rational person living in the Free State of Florida, but there are plenty of smart, reasonable people just like you here. The purpose of this newsletter and the Tropic Press website is to provide a source of news and commentary that shines a light through this irrational fog.
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J.C. Bruce
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Time to take back our state
The upcoming midterm elections provide a generational opportunity to change the complexion of Florida’s political makeup. But for that to happen, Republican incumbents in the Legislature must face Democrats on the ballot. Currently, there are far too many seats where Republicans stand to run unopposed. Here’s how we can fix that:
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