‘Florida resident’: How owning property in Florida has become a political liability for GOP Senate candidates

Democrats in several of this year's most competitive Senate contests are turning Florida real estate into a weapon against Republican nominees, arguing the candidates are detached from the states they hope to represent. Four nominees own homes there: Mike Rogers of Michigan, Roger Marshall of Kansas, Michele Tafoya of Minnesota and Ken Paxton of Texas. Marshall's campaign says he has already unloaded his Sarasota property, which the Kansas Reflector had put near $1. 2 million. At a debate, he said he used it to see his grandchildren, and Democrat Adam Hamilton replied that he would not move to Florida, according to MS NOW.

Rogers and his wife paid $1. 6 million for a Cape Coral house in 2022 and declared it their permanent residence the next year, Michigan's NPR station reported. They listed it in 2025 but reportedly pulled it from the market last month. His campaign stresses his Michigan upbringing and Army ROTC training. Democrat Abdul El-Sayed told a Macomb County crowd that Rogers is heading back to Florida.

Tafoya owns a Miromar Lakes home and once called herself a "Florida resident" online. Peggy Flanagan's campaign says Tafoya's loyalties lie near Donald Trump.

Summarized by PolitiKool from MS NOW’s reporting. Read the full story at MS NOW →