Florida Ballots List Republicans First Due to 1951 Law
A state statute from 75 years ago dictates that the party winning the previous gubernatorial race appears at the top of the ticket, a rule researchers link to small but decisive voting advantages.
By Aiko Sato ·
Voters in Cook County may never see it, but in Florida, the order of names on the ballot is determined by a law passed in 1951. This rule places the Republican Party above the Democratic Party on the 2026 general election ballots. Because Governor Ron DeSantis won reelection in 2022, his party holds the top spot. This arrangement has persisted for more than 25 years, following victories by Rick Scott, Charlie Crist, and Jeb Bush.
The statute originated when Democrats controlled the state government. At that time, Republicans were a minority in the Legislature. Lawmakers drafted the bill to give the top position to the party that won the last governor's race. While the political balance has shifted, the legal mechanism has remained unchanged. Florida is one of at least a dozen states that use political party affiliation to determine ballot order, according to a 2025 analysis by the National Conference of State Legislatures. Other states use alphabetical listing, random draws, or rotation systems.
Political scientists argue that this order provides a measurable advantage. Jon Krosnick, a political scientist at Stanford University, has studied this phenomenon for decades. He served as an expert witness in legal challenges in Florida and West Virginia. He attributes the benefit to the primacy effect, where individuals tend to choose the first acceptable option presented to them. Krosnick notes this bias appears in various contexts, from beer tastings to crossing parking lots.
"We see it not only in elections, but we see it in beer tasting, and we see it when people are crossing parking lots and whenever people need to make a choice; they go for the first option that's acceptable to some degree," Krosnick said. He explained that voter ambivalence and a lack of detailed information contribute to this behavior. While the effect might weaken in high-profile races where voters know the candidates well, negative campaigning can increase ambivalence and strengthen the bias.
Krosnick estimated that if Republican candidates won recent close races by narrow margins, they likely received two to three extra percentage points due to this ordering. Darren Grant, an economics professor at Sam Houston State University, found similar results. His research indicates the effect is particularly strong in down-ballot races. Grant traced a specific pattern in Florida's gubernatorial elections. Charlie Crist, a Republican, won the governorship in 2006. This victory meant the Republican candidate would appear first in the 2010 election.
Rick Scott won the 2010 race by approximately 1.2% and was reelected in 2014 by just over one percentage point. In 2018, Ron DeSantis defeated Democratic challenger Andrew Gillum by 0.4%. Grant argues that Crist's 2006 victory created a chain reaction that contributed to DeSantis's win 12 years later. He described this sequence as a "hat trick." The consistent top placement provided a cumulative boost that influenced the outcomes of these tightly contested elections.
Democrats have attempted to change the rule through the courts. In 2018, national Democratic organizations and state voters filed a constitutional challenge. Their lawsuit claimed that candidates from the governor's party receive an unfair artificial advantage due to position bias. The National Republican Senatorial Committee and the Republican Governors Association joined the case to defend the state. They argued in a motion to dismiss that the statute imposes only minimal burdens on plaintiffs' constitutional rights.
U.S. District Judge Mark Walker ruled in favor of the Democrats. However, an appeals court overturned that decision in 2020. The higher court stated that the plaintiffs lacked legal standing, sued the wrong official, and presented political questions beyond judicial authority. A similar legal battle occurred in West Virginia, where a judge appointed by President Bill Clinton sided with Democrats. That ruling was also reversed by a federal appeals court, though on different legal grounds.
Grant noted that gaining one to three percentage points in a general election is a substantial margin. Candidates often spend millions of dollars on advertising to secure such an advantage. The current ballot order in Florida remains in effect for the 2026 cycle. The rule continues to place the party that won the most recent gubernatorial race in the top position.
