Ron DeSantis released his Republican midterm post-mortem this week, pointing fingers at Jeffrey Epstein document releases, congressional stock trading concerns, and transgender-focused campaign ads. Conspicuously absent from his analysis: cannabis policy, despite clear evidence that marijuana positions cost GOP candidates in key races.
The Florida governor's selective memory is particularly striking given what happened in Texas, where state legislators who championed a sweeping THCA crackdown lost their seats in November. Those defeats came after Texas Republicans pushed emergency legislation targeting hemp-derived THC products, a move that alienated both business owners and conservative voters who saw it as government overreach.
The Texas Factor
Texas State Representative Briscoe Cain, who led the charge on THCA restrictions, lost his re-election bid. So did several of his allies in the Texas House who voted for the emergency hemp ban. The defeats weren't subtle—voters in traditionally Republican districts rejected incumbents who had sided with law enforcement over hemp businesses.
The Texas crackdown, which DeSantis apparently forgot to mention, shuttered hundreds of small businesses overnight and drew fierce backlash from the state's libertarian-leaning Republican base. Hemp shop owners organized voter registration drives. Industry groups poured money into opposition campaigns. And it worked.
Meanwhile, a federal hemp ban remains on the congressional calendar, with some Republican lawmakers still pushing for restrictions despite the electoral message from Texas. The disconnect between voter preferences and legislative action has created an opening for Democrats in rural and suburban districts where cannabis businesses have become economic anchors.
What DeSantis Actually Said
DeSantis characterized the midterm results as an "extinction-level event" for Republicans in certain demographics and regions. He blamed the Epstein file releases for turning off suburban women voters, pointed to concerns about congressional insider trading as an ethics liability, and said transgender-focused campaign ads backfired by making Republicans look obsessed with culture war issues.
But he said nothing about Florida's own failed recreational marijuana ballot measure, which he actively campaigned against despite polls showing 56% of Florida voters supported legalization. Amendment 3 fell short of the 60% threshold needed to pass, but only after DeSantis and allies spent months attacking it and threatened TV stations that aired pro-legalization ads.
The Numbers Tell a Different Story
Nationwide polling consistently shows marijuana legalization drawing bipartisan support, with 70% of Americans backing legal cannabis according to Gallup. That includes majorities of Republicans in most surveys, particularly younger conservatives and those in rural areas where hemp and CBD businesses have proliferated.
In Texas specifically, the THCA crackdown became a defining issue in several House races. Industry sources estimate the emergency ban affected more than 2,000 businesses statewide, creating an immediate constituency of business owners, employees, and customers with a direct stake in the election outcome.
What's Next
The federal hemp ban proposal, which could come up for a vote in the next congressional session, faces an uncertain future. Some Republican lawmakers are reportedly reconsidering their positions after watching what happened to their Texas colleagues. But others, particularly those with strong law enforcement backing, remain committed to restrictions.
DeSantis, meanwhile, has shown no signs of moderating his opposition to marijuana legalization. His political calculus appears to be that opposing cannabis helps him with a narrow slice of social conservative primary voters, even if it costs Republicans general election support.
The question for the GOP is whether other party leaders will follow DeSantis in pretending cannabis wasn't a factor in 2024, or whether they'll learn from the Texas results and adjust accordingly. Based on the governor's latest analysis, he's chosen option one.
This article is based on original reporting by hightimes.com.
