Florida House Democrats are celebrating big Election Day gains that broke Republicans' supermajority in the chamber.
"It makes it important that on those really important bipartisan issues that we all come together and that our caucus also has a seat at the table," said House Democratic Leader-Designate Christine Hunschofsky at a Thursday press conference.
With their supermajority, Republicans got enormous control over passing laws and could bypass certain procedural rules to speed up legislation without Democratic support.
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But Democrats flipped at least 16 seats — with a 17th seat pending a recount. They lost only one Democratic-held district.
If the recount goes in the Democrats' favor, that would mean there's 70 Republicans to 50 Democrats. It will be House Democrats' largest caucus since 1996.
Going into Election Day, Republicans had slightly more than the two-thirds required for a supermajority.
In both chambers, it takes a two-thirds supermajority to override a governor's veto, pass public records exemptions and suspend certain legislative rules. Impeachment also requires a two-thirds vote in the House — and two-thirds of present members in the Senate for conviction.
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The Senate also doesn't have a two-thirds supermajority. That requires 27 seats. Republicans hold 25, but there's one vacancy (in a red-leaning district) and one independent.
Senate spokesperson Katie Betta emphasized that the Senate "has a long tradition of collegiality."
"It is extremely rare for the Senate to take a vote on a procedural motion requiring a supermajority," Betta said in an email.
An important note: Some things in the Legislature require a three-fifths vote, a lesser hurdle than two-thirds.
For example, a three-fifths vote is needed to put proposed constitutional amendments on the ballot and to extend a legislative session.
Three-fifths is 72 members of the House, a threshold Republicans alone won't meet. The Senate does narrowly have enough Republicans.
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This story was produced by WUSF as part of a statewide journalism initiative funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
