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In the midst of what pundits are calling a blue tsunami nationwide, Florida remained resolutely red, electing Republican Byron Donalds as its first Black governor and sending Republican Ashley Moody back to the U.S. Senate.
Donalds ran on a promise to continue the legacy of his predecessor, Gov. Ron DeSantis.
His victory was not as easily won as polls had predicted. In the week leading up to the election, polls put him at 4 points over his opponent, Democrat David Jolly. In the end, Donalds won by 1.3 points – about 107,000 votes.
I’m a political scientist who has lived in Florida for almost two decades and seen the powers of the governor’s office grow. We can see based on Donalds’ campaign promises the direction in which he plans to lead the state.
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Amendment 3 shakes things up
Donalds’ term as governor will start with a major change: On Nov. 3, Floridians voted to pass Amendment 3 to the state constitution.
This will cause a shift in the state’s long-standing commitment to home rule, the principle that local governments, such as cities and counties, should be able to set policy on local issues.
The amendment limits local government spending from tax revenue to core categories such as public safety, schools and natural resources. With a lower tax base, some local governments in rural areas may not be able to maintain basic services and might need help from the state.
DeSantis has called for a special session to address Amendment 3 before Donalds takes office.
DeSantis has said he plans to restrict home rule by stopping local governments from trying to raise revenue through additional taxation at the local level.
Donalds supported the amendment, and it will give him and the Legislature the opportunity to redistribute tax funding throughout the state.
This election has changed the makeup of the state Legislature, though, with the GOP losing its supermajority in the Florida House of Representatives, which requires holding 80 out of the 120 seats. This change in the Legislature could make it more difficult for Donalds to control the agenda in Tallahassee the way DeSantis did during his second term, when he had a supermajority in both houses of the Legislature.
Donalds has affirmed that he supports the big steps DeSantis has taken to limit home rule – such as limiting local control over land development and removing local elected officials from office – and plans to take executive authority further, scheduling more DOGE audits of local government and removing more elected officials as he sees fit.
When it comes to data centers, on the other hand, Donalds has said he favors local communities deciding whether to allow them to be built nearby.
The Washington Post via Getty News
Florida health policy on vaccine mandates
One of the first choices awaiting Donalds will be whom to appoint as Florida surgeon general, a position created in 2007. The position comes with the power to declare public health emergencies, forcibly quarantine people and set vaccine mandates for illnesses such as chickenpox that fall outside the state Legislature’s framework of seven childhood vaccine mandates.
As part of his conservative remake of Florida policies, DeSantis appointed the current surgeon general, Dr. Joseph Ladapo, to the position in 2021. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Ladapo emerged as a leading medical freedom advocate and vaccine skeptic.
Ladapo opposes all vaccine mandates. He also proposed new Florida health rules in October 2026 to drop mandates for four vaccines required for school attendance, including chickenpox and hepatitis B. Currently, the state allows exemptions only for approved religious or medical reasons.
The Florida Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics opposes the rule change on public health grounds.
Donalds has long opposed vaccine mandates and says that he did not personally receive a COVID-19 vaccine. He supports Ladapo’s proposed rule change to reduce school vaccination mandates and said during his campaign that he is open to reappointing Ladapo as surgeon general.
The Florida Legislature, however, will limit how far Donalds can push vaccine policy. The Legislature has mandated measles and polio vaccines for all K-12 public school students, so getting rid of that requirement would require a change in the law.
Universal school vouchers
One of the biggest developments in Florida K-12 education in recent years has been the creation of a system of universal vouchers by DeSantis and the Legislature in 2023. This program allows parents of any income level to use US$8,000 in state money on average, based on county of residence, for their children’s private or homeschooling education.
The universal voucher program has created intense pressure on the state budget. It cost an estimated $4.5 billion in fiscal year 2026. State auditors have identified accountability problems in tracking funds through the system. Public schools have faced declining enrollment, with fewer resources to serve the neediest students they cannot turn away.
Donalds strongly supports the universal voucher program. He has expressed an interest in making Florida “the model state for school choice” by allowing parents to choose among private educational providers competing in the marketplace.
His wife, Erika Donalds, is a former Collier County school board member who operates a network of for-profit charter schools and advocates nationally for school choice. Whether the Donaldses will divest from the charter school business during the governor-elect’s term remains to be seen.
Already, the governor-elect has indicated that he might work with the Legislature to change the way the Florida Education Finance Program funds K-12 schools, allowing districts to spend funds with more flexibility.
During his campaign he also proposed a universal scorecard for the voucher program so that parents can compare educational data on student performance across different types of schools. Currently, only public schools must provide this data.
Donalds can also influence state education policy by appointing the seven members of the Board of Education and then recommending a candidate for commissioner of education for that board to elect. The commissioner and state board oversee the Florida Department of Education and programs from kindergarten through postsecondary education.
They board could also implement new eligibility rules for private school vouchers, as the DeSantis administration has done in the past.
The way forward
During his campaign, Donalds attempted to distance himself from President Donald Trump, whose policies have proven unpopular even in red states such as Florida.
But in his victory speech on the evening of Nov. 3, Donalds proudly announced that he had received a congratulatory call from the president. “Mr. President,” he said to a cheering crowd, “I want you to hear from Florida that we are still red.”
This story is an update of a story published on Oct. 28, 2026.
Read more of our stories about Florida.
Liv Coleman is affiliated with the Manatee County Democratic Party.
Politics + Society – The Conversation
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Crystal Harris came out with some damning descriptions about her infamous late husband.
The Playboy widow alleged that Hugh Hefner would try to force twins Karissa and Kristina Shannon to engage in incest with each other.
Now, Karissa is speaking out and confirming that Hefner did try.
She shared how she and her sister managed to pull the wool over the then-octogenarian’s eyes.
‘He would try and force me and my sister to have sex with each other’
Speaking to Page Six, Karissa — who is now 37 — recalled her time as one of Hefner’s “girlfriends” when she and her twin sister were 18-20.
She confirmed that widow Crystal Harris’ description of events “is true.”
What’s more is that she noted that it’s odd that anyone found the word “incest” surprising, given Hefner’s reputation.
“I figured people would already have assumed that,” Karissa admitted.
She bluntly summarized: “He would try and force me and my sister to have sex with each other.”
However, Karissa was quick to emphasize: “Me and my sister never actually did it together. So that’s a statement I want to say.”
She reiterated: “Like, really, we never, never had incest sex. Like, we never did that.”
Karissa shared that, in order to appease Hefner, “we faked it.”
She continued: “We faked it every time. And it was horrible. Like, we faked it completely.”
According to Karissa, Harris was present multiple times and could tell that the twins “were faking it.”
‘He wanted to see it and wanted us to fool around with each other’
In contrast, Karissa claimed that Hefner “had no idea” of their deception and “thought it was real.”
She said that the apparent act of incest “made him so happy” to see — or think that he was seeing.
“He wanted to see it and wanted us to fool around with each other and said that if we really loved each other, we would do it together,” Karissa recalled.
The twins went to the Playboy mansion as young, impressionable teens. However, on this topic, they did not budge.
“Me and my sister spoke about it. … We were like, ‘Let’s just fake it,’” Karissa detailed.
Karissa did not detail exactly how they fooled Hefner. And, to be honest, most of us do not need to know these very private, likely very painful details.
However, Karissa did speculate that a previous pair of Playboy twins, Sandy and Mandy Bentley, may have had worse luck.
“Were they actually doing it?” she wondered aloud. “I felt bad for those girls because [Hefner] was younger in those days, so he was harder to fool.”
That is jarring to contemplate. It was perhaps not terribly thoughtful to voice this suspicion aloud to Page Six. No matter the answer, it’s likely that the Bentley twins would consider this a private matter.
It is difficult to imagine how Karissa and Kristina Shannon’s sisterly bond may have been warped by their time with Hefner. It is heartbreaking to consider.
Sex should be safe, sane, and consensual — and this was not
Sex can be a beautiful, wholesome thing — whether shared with one partner or several or even with strangers.
But it should be safe, sane, and consensual.
It doesn’t sound like Hefner understood that. It doesn’t sound like he cared.
Fortunately, most creeps will never be in a position of power over women like this, let alone a pair of twins.
That said, even the powerless should consider whether, say, famous actors or sex workers will see their inappropriate replies. Not every thought needs to be posted online.
Karissa Shannon: Hugh Hefner Tried to ‘Force Me and My Sister to Have Sex With Each Other’ was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.
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