USF St. Petersburg student Alexa Matos (right) collected signatures on May 13, 2023, for the ballot initiative to enshrine abortion access in the state constitution. (Photo courtesy of Matos)
Legislative Republicans have clashed with Gov. Ron DeSantis over how best to complement President Donald Trump’s campaign against undocumented immigration, but will they resist the governor’s other priorities?
Take his reforms to Florida’s citizen initiative process.
Three months after he successfully organized enough opposition to stop proposed constitutional amendments to legalize adult use of cannabis and enshrine abortion rights in the Florida Constitution, the governor wants to change the citizen petition process to address what he calls “ballot initiative integrity.”
Among those proposals are eliminating third-party collection of petition forms and tightening signature verification, changes that voting rights advocates say could gut the citizen initiative process.
That appears a political loser, however — even among Florida Republicans.
A survey of 600 likely 2026 Republican voters by Fabrizio & Associates, the pollster for Donald Trump, shows that rank-and-file GOP voters do not approve. The poll was first published in Florida Politics.
When asked whether they support eliminating “the ability for supporters of constitutional initiatives to collect petitions signed by Floridians in order to get the initiative on the ballot, and making it almost impossible for citizens to vote on changes to Florida’s constitution,” 55% of Republicans said they did not, with just 17% supporting the idea.
When asked about another proposal that DeSantis has floated — to allow private lawyers to block a constitutional initiative from being on the ballot after even after the Florida Supreme Court has reviewed and approved the initiative, 62% opposed that notion, with just 13% supporting.
A third question asked GOP voters simply whether they believe citizen-led initiatives should continue. Seventy-two percent said they did, with just 14% saying they did not, with another 15% not sure.
“Floridians deserve the freedom to make decisions on critical issues that impact our daily lives,” said Brad Ashwell, Florida state director for All Voting is Local Action.
“This poll reinforces that most people, regardless of political perspective, support the right of citizens to petition their government. It also suggests that people want their leadership to focus on addressing real issues that Floridians are facing rather than trying to limit access to democracy. We continue to be concerned about how Governor Desantis’ office’s proposals on this issue could overwhelm Supervisors of Elections and their ability to serve voters.”
‘Aberration’
The survey also asked Florida Republicans to weigh in on last week’s special session, called by DeSantis to combat illegal immigration in the state. The poll found that 90% of Republicans supported requiring state law enforcement agencies to cooperate with federal immigration authorities to detain illegal immigrants in Florida. Only 7% opposed.
The governor had listed among his proposals that each state and county law enforcement agency and any other law enforcement agency with more than 25 sworn law enforcement officers must participate in the 287(g) program, which is a collaboration between state and local law enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security to enforce federal immigration law.
He said that he wanted to require all law enforcement agencies to participate in every program offered by the federal government, as well as the ability for his office to suspend any elected or appointed official who refuses to comply with this directive.
The bill that passed by Florida Republicans created what was called “the Local Law Enforcement Immigration Grant Program” which would award grants to support cooperation with federal immigration agencies.
Another 81% supported using state funds to help federal immigration authorities detain and deport illegal immigrants in Florida, with 14% opposing. The governor proposed more than $500 million for Florida emergency management officials for immigration enforcement in his budget announced earlier this week. The Republican Legislature in its bill allocates the Department of Agriculture nearly $500 million in grants to state and local law-enforcement agencies to assist with the Trump administration’s illegal-immigration efforts.
Regarding repeal of the 2014 measure signed into law by then-Gov. Rick Scott allowing undocumented students to pay in-state tuition rates, 67% supported repeal and 28% were against. Both the governor and the Legislature support that proposal.
Speaking to reporters in Tallahassee on Monday, DeSantis dropped some of his harsh rhetoric about the alternative immigration bill passed by Republican lawmakers, saying, “I think it was an aberration last week. I do think we’re going to be united on this issue, and then we can move forward. So, I look forward to working and continuing to have those discussions.”
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