Issue #238: Debbie Mayfield - The State Senator Ron DeSantis tried to stop
An overlooked election shows how the Governor has fallen
On April 1st, Florida drew national focus as two special elections for Congress were held. These elections for the deep red 1st and 6th Congressional districts saw Democrats far out-perform the 2024 Presidential election results. However, these races were not the only contests on the ballot that evening.
Down in Brevard County, Republican Primary special elections were being held for a State Senate and State House seat. The State Senate seat in question, District 19, was being vacated by Randy Fine as he ran for and won the 6th Congressional special. The seat covers much of Brevard County.
A four-way Republican primary was held for the district on April 1st with a June 10th general election scheduled. In a district that voted for Donald Trump by 20 points, the primary is nearly tantamount to election.
In that primary, the frontrunner from start to finish was State Representative Debbie Mayfield. The easy leader in money and name ID against three challenger, Mayfield took 61% of the vote, winning every precinct in the contest. She is now poised enter the State Senate after a June general election.
Mayfield’s win is not especially surprising if you know her electoral strength in the area. However, before this primary took place, there were efforts underway, driven by Ron DeSantis, to stop Mayfield from winning this contest. For those of you who have not followed this saga, I have quiet a story for you. A story of DeSantis vs The Florida legislature, a story of term limits, and a story of the Governor trying to assert his control over Florida.
Lets get going.
Debbie Mayfield’s Strength
Before diving into the DeSantis-driven drama that took place in this special election, its best to first cover Debbie Mayfield herself. Governor DeSantis and her do not get along, but there is a reason his dislike did not translate into a primary loss for her. Part of that is that DeSantis no longer has the juice he once had with primary voters. Another big factor, however, is Mayfield’s strengths in her own right.
Debbie Mayfield is a popular and long-serving politician in the Florida Space Coast. She was originally elected to the State House in 2008, representing the Indian River and St. Lucie area - with redistricting consolidating her into an Indian River district.
In 2016, Mayfield hit the 8-year term limit for the Florida House. With State Senate District 17 opened up, Mayfield ran in the Republican Primary. Thanks to a strong base in Indian River County, Mayfield bested Brevard State Representative Ritch Workman in the all-important Republican Primary.
In 2022, Mayfield was redistricted into the Brevard-only State Senate District 19. Mayfield has moved to the county, leaving her original Indian River base. She served as State Senator until 2024 when term limits forced her out of the post; which then allowed Randy Fine to win the seat.
Rather than leave public life, Mayfield ran for State House District 32 that year, easily winning the Republican primary over former Congressman Dave Weldon.
This primary was an expensive affair, with both candidates spending hundreds of thousands of dollars and Brevard politicos splitting on endorsements. Mayfield, however, easily prevailed in the contest. Despite her previous State House experience being in Indian River, the voters of central Brevard showed confidence in her experience to continue representing the community.
Then in the general election, Mayfield was the strongest Republican State House candidate of all. She outperformed Trump by 8% in the district, racking up 3,100 more votes than the now-President; getting over 64% of the vote. The only House candidate who performed stronger than their party’s presidential candidate was Democrat Allison Tant of House District 9.
Mayfield would likely have settled into the State House for another series of terms. However, things changed suddenly when Randy Fine announced he was running in the special election for Congress. Due to Florida’s resign-to-run law, Fine had to give up his State Senate Seat in order to make the plunge; leaving the district vacant and in need of a special election to be filled.
It did not take long for Debbie Mayfield to announce she was running to win her old State Senate seat back. Considering she had just finished eight years in the state senate, some might have thought this would not be allowed under the Florida Term limits law passed in 1992. That year, Florida established 8-year term limits for legislature and statewide offices. These limits are for consecutive years and are not lifetime limits. Lawmakers can and have been forced out by term limits and returned later. There is also no ban on running for a different office when hitting term limits for another. That is why Mayfield could run for State House the same year she was termed out for state senate.
While backers of term limits were angry with Mayfield’s decision, it was still clearly allowed. Mayfield served 8 years and Randy Fine had been elected to a new term. As many saw it, while this violated the spirit of term limits, it was perfectly legal. With Mayfield running, it was hard to see anyone defeating her in the Republican Primary.
Ron DeSantis, however, did not want Mayfield to be State Senator again.
DeSantis vs The Legislature
The series of special elections for Congress and legislature has all taken place as an civil war has erupted in Florida GOP circles. Ron DeSantis, who once was able to run roughshod over the legislature, has found his power challenged for the first time in several years.
Initially in the COVID era and the years following, DeSantis’ popularity with conservative activists and power brokers allowed him to dominate policy debates in the state. Lawmakers dared not defy him on policies and no one won a Republican legislative primary without his sign-off. DeSantis interjected himself heavily on legislative primaries in the 2022 midterms, something rarely done by incumbent governors in the state. After his 2022 re-election, the Governor was effectively the king of Florida government. He was never a popular King with lawmakers. Fear kept them in line, not admiration.
However, DeSantis’ punishing primary challenge to Donald Trump in 2024, which left him exposed and weak, ended the era of his dominance in the state, with Trump asserting himself as the formal power in Florida GOP circles. DeSantis’ weakened state was evident when he was unable to dictate Republicans primaries that August and suffered several defeats for local races he got involved in. However, it was not until after the 2024 election that the new reality became crystal clear.
Aiming to show he still had strong influence with Florida policy directions, DeSantis called for a January special session to push a series of laws related to immigration, condo reform, and elections. In a stunning moment, the newly-elected GOP legislative leadership BALKED at the proposal and insisted it was not needed. House Speaker Daniel Perez and Senate President Ben Albritton asserted in that moment that the legislature was an independent and equal branch of Government. The moment was a stunning shift in the power balance of Tallahassee. I wrote about it in far more detail in this January issues.
After that article, DeSantis would go on to force lawmakers into a special session. The Governor could demand legislators appear, but could not mandate they pass anything. The events that followed further cemented that DeSantis was not a weak king, but no longer a king at all.
Lawmakers came to town as ordered, but immediately voted to end the special session, refusing to take up any of DeSantis’ legislation. They then gaveled into their own special session and began working on a series of their own bills. Lawmakers first voted to override a veto DeSantis had made last year and pledged to review more vetoes for possible override. The GOP leaders then pushed through their own immigration bill; a proposal that notably took immigration enforcement away from the Governor and gave it to Secretary of Agriculture Wilton Simpson, a DeSantis foe.
The result was a long back and forth battle in the press and social media between the forces of DeSantis and the anti-DeSantis Republicans. The Governor pledged to primary lawmakers who defied his “conservative agenda.” Democrats sat back and enjoyed the show with popcorn. This drama I plan to cover more in a future piece. The long story short is the legislature in that moment asserted its own agenda. DeSantis would go on to veto the legislature’s proposal, and a compromise was eventually reached. In the end, DeSantis emerged in a much weaker state, now like any other Governor. He can veto laws, but he cannot bully the legislature around anymore.
In recent weeks, we have continued to see the legislature assert its independence, with GOP lawmakers investigating scandal emerging around a charity run by Casey DeSantis, who is a potential Governor candidate. They have override more past vetoes and agenda items of the Governor have no guarantee of reaching the chamber floors, especially in the Florida House. As the budget looms, there is increased rumbling about major vetoes and possible overrides.
As all this went on, these special elections were taking place. Randy Fine, who is a flat out enemy of Ron DeSantis, faced no trouble with securing the GOP nomination for the 6th Congressional. DeSantis had to sit back through gritted teeth as someone who he despised got to advance further in the political arena. However, he hoped to stop another enemy of his, State Representative Debbie Mayfield. These two do not get along either. However, with his electoral strength diminished, simply backing someone against Mayfield would almost surely not work. Instead, he turned to his hand-picked Secretary of State.
The Dangerous Effort to Stop Mayfield
Ron DeSantis knew he could not defeat Mayfield with a candidate of his own in the 19th State Senate District. Instead, drama erupted around the qualifying process for the State Senate special election.
February 4th was the final day for candidate qualifying in the special election. The next day would be qualifying for the State House seat Mayfield was vacating thanks to the resign-to-run law. Mayfield turned her paperwork in along with three other Republican candidates. One odd last-minute movement was that former Melbourne City Council Tim Thomas, who was initially filed for Mayfield’s State House seat special election, changed it to the State Senate. Thomas was originally a candidate DeSantis wanted to primary Randy Fine in 2024, but Trump’s team stopped that effort. That movement indicated DeSantis had a candidate of his own in the contest.
When the noon qualifying deadline was reached, four Republicans were filed for the Senate Special; including Mayfield. Here the role of the Secretary of State’s office is to verify if the paperwork has been properly filled out. If the paperwork is in order, then the SOS deems them “qualified” to run for the office in question. However, hours following the noon deadline, no word came from Secretary of State Cord Byrd on the final candidate list of “qualified candidates.” No announcement came until the next day.
That next day, Byrd, who it should be noted is a far-right former State House member and major DeSantis ally, announced Mayfield did NOT QUALIFY to run for State Senate 19. Byrd argued that Mayfield running for State Senate the very next year meant her service in 2024 and then 2025, despite the 6 month gap, would be “contiguous.” In an unprecedented moment, the Secretary of State had ruled on the eligibility of a candidate for office, something that state law gives him no authority to do.
The idea that the Secretary of State, a political appointee of the governor, could declare a candidate did or did not meet the standards to run, is a dangerous precedent. I wrote about this in far more detail in the days after it happened.
The move was met with fierce pushback from Debbie Mayfield. She pledged to appeal right to the Florida Supreme Court and directly called out DeSantis as behind the move.
“Today Governor DeSantis used the executive branch to punish me for endorsing Donald J Trump for president. He has weaponized the Department of State just like Joe Biden weaponized the Department of Justice against President Trump. The law is on my side. We will fight for the people of Brevard on this just like I always have.”
To me there is no doubt this was a political ploy to stop Mayfield. The argument about term limits does not hold up to the letter of the law, and even if there was a question, it is NOT the Secretary of State’s job to make that decision. The fact that Thomas changed his candidacy at the last moment further gave credence to the idea this was an orchestrated plot.
The Court Smacks Byrd Down
The effort to stop Mayfield did not work, however. Within one week of the scandal, the Florida Supreme Court ruled 7-0 that the Mayfield was to be placed back on the ballot. Not only did the court affirm that Mayfield was free and clear of the term limits, they took Byrd to task for overstepping his authority to decide these matters. The full court opinion is a fun read to see someone just get ripped to shreds legally. The opinion was authored by Justice Jamie Grosshans, a DeSantis appointee.
First, the court affirmed that the Secretary of State’s office has a mere ministerial function to make sure paperwork is correct. The court points out that statute actually bars the office from assessing the accuracy of qualifying papers.
The filing officer performs a ministerial function in reviewing qualifying papers. In determining whether a candidate is qualified, the filing officer shall review the qualifying papers to determine whether all items required by paragraph (a) have been properly filed and whether each item is complete on its face, including whether items that must be verified have been properly verified pursuant to s. 92.525(1)(a). The filing officer may not determine whether the contents of the qualifying papers are accurate.
The court took Byrd’s arguments to task. In filings, the Secretary of State had insisted his office was obligated to review the accuracy and qualifications of candidates. The court rejected this and pointed out no case law or statue was offered to back the claim up.
To defend this expanded review, the Secretary argues that his office may go beyond the face of the paperwork to assess whether a candidate is legally and constitutionally eligible for the office. We have not found, nor has the Secretary cited, any source of law that grants the Secretary this authority. Instead, we find the opposite—a statute that expressly limits the Department’s scope of review.
The Court went on, demonstrating a clear annoyance with the Secretary of State.
The Secretary also argues that the ability to verify the oath of the candidate necessarily encompasses the ability to determine if that candidate is truly eligible for the office. He is wrong.
Furthermore, the the court looked into the issue of term limits of Florida. As I wrote about in my February piece, to me the law seemed clear that Mayfield was allowed to run. Whether than met the spirit of term limits didn’t matter, based on the statute, it was clear to me she could run. I was happy to see this line by the court when they affirmed she was eligible to run.
Our conclusion is consistent with how an ordinary person would understand the statute’s text.
Honestly it felt like any arguments Mayfield could not run were people looking for too much technicality. The idea of a basic reading of the law by anyone, and I am no lawyer, backed up Mayfield’s right to run for the post.
The court invited lawmakers and voters to make changes to term limits if this wished, but ruled Mayfield was in the right to run.
If the people of Florida want other limitations on the time their elected officials may serve, they can incorporate such language explicitly through the constitutional amendment process. However, until they choose to do so, we cannot read a prohibition into the constitution that does not exist because of policy concerns over gamesmanship.
This was all from the majority opinion. In addition, a concurrence was written by Justice Canady, a longtime conservative justice who was once on Trump’s supreme Court shortlist.
Two paragraph, not back to back mind you, really stand out for the sense of annoyance the court had with this case.
First, this case has come to us because the Secretary has—without any plausible legal basis—taken action that threatens to disrupt the orderly and fair administration of the special election for Senate District 19.
The statute leaves no doubt about the strictly circumscribed nature of the Secretary’s ministerial duty and authority. It provides that the Secretary “may not determine whether the contents of the qualifying papers are accurate.” What could be more clear?
With this judicial smackdown, the path was clear for Debbie Mayfield in the State Senate 19 contest. Another massive black eye for the Governor. While Byrd was the name taken to task in court filings, everyone knew the real power behind the move.
Mayfield’s Easy Win
Once Mayfield was back on the primary ballot, a month and a half still remained for the special election primary. The Senate leadership announced their support as did Randy Fine. The Florida Chamber of Commerce backed her and she easily raked in over $100,000 in a short window.
DeSantis still could have easily steered support to Thomas or any other candidate. However, this never occurred. Mayfield quickly asserted herself as the near heir to the seat. In my election-day article on the races, I covered the contest a bit more. The short version is - a quiet primary with everyone knowing Mayfield was destined to easily win.
All three opponents struggled to raise any real money. Thomas didn’t even crack $20,000. Conservative activist Marcie Adkins, who once primaried Randy Fine in a nasty 2020 contest, brought in $35,000. First time candidate Mark Lightner III raised $7,500. While term limit grumbling was brought up, it got little real attention.
The State Senate contest was an afterthought. Instead, the big action was in the Republican primary for State House 32. I covered that contest as well in my election day article. The house contest generated far more attention and money, with hundreds of thousands spent between three strong candidates. In the end, insurance man Brian Hodgers narrowly edged out Bob White and Terry Cronin for the nomination in that seat.
Mayfield secured a slightly higher share of the vote in HD32, but her wins were fairly even across the Senate district.
As we look ahead to the June 10th General Election, there is little reason to think Mayfield will have any trouble. The district is solidly red, backing Trump by 20 points. In addition, Mayfield has demonstrated a strong electoral appeal from past contests. Meanwhile her Democratic opponent, Vance Ahrens, has only raised $13,000. While the Congressional Specials saw massive Democratic overperformances, and we will likely see some of that again for this race and HD32, no one expects them to be flips. As a result, Mayfield is poised to re-enter the State Senate. Term limit backers may not love this fact. However, I know someone who dislikes it even more.
That someone is Ron DeSantis, the once-King of Florida.