Jackie Calmes: Ron DeSantis proves that cruetly is a Republican trait
It was the first day of a special election for Florida’s 29th District special Election Day at noon. It was also the first day of the latest Republican presidential push, and the first day of the latest phase of the ongoing War on Women.
The Florida Special Elections Act of 2017 (commonly known as the “DeSantis Amendment”) was passed on December 20th by the Florida House of Representatives. The “DeSantis Amendment” is a special law created by DeSantis to allow candidates to run in a special election against an incumbent if they could not get on the November ballot under the rules for regular general elections.
The Florida House version of the amended law allows the successful candidate to file a petition for a ballot challenge if the candidate could not get on the November ballot with a lesser amount of signatures. Under the amended law, candidates are now limited to 10,000 signatures for the first special election, after which they are limited to 3,000 signatures. The “DeSantis Amendment” was approved by the House unanimously.
The “DeSantis Amendment” is named after Ron DeSantis, who won the 2018 special election. DeSantis is now the first Republican in American history to be elected to an open seat. He won against Democrat Gwen Graham with 49 percent of the vote. DeSantis has been credited with making the state a “right-to-work” state for private businesses, expanding the number of charter schools, defunding Planned Parenthood as well as making it harder than ever to qualify to vote in Florida.
The “DeSantis Amendment” is now headed to the Florida Senate. It passed the Florida Senate unanimously today. The Republican Senate majority is headed toward a majority that is large enough to control any bill they find politically and ideologically problematic. If the Senate fails to confirm President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee before the end of the year
