ACLU of Florida Statement on Midterm Election Results

MIAMI, FL – In response to the 2026 midterm election results, Bacardi Jackson, Executive Director of the ACLU of Florida, issued the following statement:

“Tonight, Florida voters sent a message that cannot be captured in a single headline. In many places, they protected the freedoms we hold dear. In others, the results will make the road ahead steeper. But beneath every result is one truth no one can take from us: Floridians are fighting for their rights and their liberties. Floridians showed up.

 

“More than 5 million Floridians cast their ballots before Election Day, nearly 300,000 more than those who turned out to vote in 2022. Then today, nearly 3 million Floridians braved the rain and floods and stood in line to make their voices heard. And it cannot be overlooked that every statewide candidate and issue on the ballot won or lost by less than 3% of the votes cast, meaning Floridians across every political perspective engaged. That is what we mean when we say that democracy is not a spectator sport. Floridians understood that their rights, their freedoms, and their families’ futures were on the ballot, and they would not be silent.

 

“Floridians are fighting for a state that works for all of us, but the deck is stacked against those with the fewest resources. The cost of living keeps climbing, gas prices are competing with grocery budgets, and too many of our streets flood after an ordinary afternoon rain. Working families, renters and people who can’t afford to buy a home will now have to burden the costs of Amendment 3. The major cuts to crucial local services and to our local governments’ revenues will deepen the racial inequities that have long haunted our state’s history.

 

“We’ll continue to fight for the people and hold accountable leaders who spew cruel anti-immigrant rhetoric and who facilitate the proliferation of rogue ICE agents on our streets. We’ll continue to stand up for free speech and academic freedom at public universities and academic institutions , and to ensure that diversity, equity, and inclusion thrives in our communities.

 

“This election showed that cruelty and corruption are intolerable to at least half of our electorate and those coming into power do not have a mandate to continue on a path that stokes division and fear while ignoring the real needs of Floridians. It also showed there is a strong will to stand up and fight back – a will that will wade through flooded roads, wait in line for hours to vote, defy gerrymandered districts and break supermajority holds.

 

“Indeed, our Constitution does not promise us a government free from disagreement. It guarantees us the freedom to disagree and the rights we need to create change. Reclaiming and defending those rights is a responsibility we must all share, whatever our party or affiliation.

 

“Building a democracy that works for everyone, not just the powerful few, will take every one of us and will not be determined by a singular election cycle. It will take Floridians showing up at city hall, at the county commission, and in Tallahassee. It will take ceaseless phone calls, letters and visits to the people we elected. And it will take the honest, sometimes difficult conversations about where we go from here.

 

“Democracy was never meant to be a platform for politicians; it was meant to serve the people. This election reminded us that our state’s real needs are still unmet, but it is on all of use to make sure they don’t remain unanswered.

 

“For more than seventy years, the ACLU of Florida has stood watch over the rights and liberties of every person in this state. That does not change tonight. We will remain ever watchful of those elected to lead Florida into its next chapter, and we will hold them to their oath to protect the constitutional rights and freedoms of every Floridian.”