The make-up of the Florida Senate didn't budge an inch. And some of the races were downright nasty this season. So it should come as no surprise that Senate Democratic Leader Al Lawson issued a press release Wednesday congratulating incoming Senate President Jeff Atwater on his re-election.

(Some veteran-watchers say it's pretty gutsy for Democrats to even try to challenge an incoming senate president up for re-election.)

But this was no run-of-the-mill kowtowing. Lawson reminds his colleagues that "by an overwhelming majority, the people of Florida played a pivotal role in delivering this state -– for the first time in four presidential elections -– to a candidate who not only broke the conventional stereotypes in every sense, but offered the first tangible ray of hope to so many of our citizens desperate for opportunities so elusive and so hard to come by."

He ends the press release by asking Senate leadership to remember how Floridians voted for president this Legislative season.

“In this new day, this new beginning, let us always remember that whatever our differences, we are all Floridians, all members of the Florida Senate, and all hopeful that your presidency mirrors the reflection of a state ready for change.”

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