Lawmakers overwhelmingly reject Special Session
A view of the Capitol and Dept. of Education buildings Wednesday morning, Oct. 11, 2017 in Tallahassee, Fla. (Photo by Phil Sears)

Florida Legislature
The Senate rejected the idea by a 20-14 margin.

With a 5 p.m. Tuesday deadline for casting votes, the Republican-controlled Legislature overwhelmingly rejected a Democratic proposal to hold a special session to address gun violence.

The Senate rejected the idea by a 20-14 margin, while the House turned it down by a 68-38 margin, according to a tally released Tuesday evening by the Florida Department of State.

The votes were almost along straight party lines, with only three Democrats crossing over to oppose the proposed special session. Those Democrats were Sen. Bill Montford, Rep. Bruce Antone, and Rep. Al Jacquet, according to the Department of State.

House Democrats called for the special session in the wake of mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, this month but were quickly opposed by Republicans leaders in both chambers.

Democrats needed 72 of 120 votes in the House and 24 of 40 votes in the Senate to force a special session.

Peter Schorsch

Peter Schorsch is the President of Extensive Enterprises Media and is the publisher of FloridaPolitics.com, INFLUENCE Magazine, and Sunburn, the morning read of what’s hot in Florida politics. Previous to his publishing efforts, Peter was a political consultant to dozens of congressional and state campaigns, as well as several of the state’s largest governmental affairs and public relations firms. Peter lives in St. Petersburg with his wife, Michelle, and their daughter, Ella. Follow Peter on Twitter @PeterSchorschFL.


One comment

  • Paul Siano

    August 30, 2019 at 11:59 pm

    Republicans love gun violence.

Comments are closed.


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