Despite being caught up in a major sex scandal, Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida enjoyed a landslide victory in the 2022 midterms. The far-right MAGA Republican defeated Democratic challenger Rebekah Jones by 35 percent.
Democrats, on the whole, performed much better than expected in the midterms, keeping their U.S. Senate majority and winning key gubernatorial races in Pennsylvania, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin and other swing states. But Florida was one state that really did see a red wave on Election Night; Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sen. Marco Rubio were both reelected by double digits. And the Gaetz/Jones competition wasn't even remotely close.
