[applause] thank y'all. god bless y'all. love y'all. [applause] guest: ♪ >> thank you, florida. about 15 minutes ago, i spoke with andrew gillum who graciously conceded the election. he was a very formidable opponent and i wish him well and

his future endeavors. other than serving our nation in uniform, the opportunity to serve as the 46th the governor of the great state of florida is the greatest professional honor of my life. thank you, the people of florida, for your faith, your support, and your trust you have placed in me. not bad for a kid who started out making six dollars an hour. throughout the campaign, i knew the only thing i could control was how hard i worked. and while i was confident at achieving a victory, i was at peace knowing that i worked as hard as i possibly could and let everything out on the field. when he spoke to the ohio regiment towards the end of the civil war, abraham lincoln told the soldiers assembled before him that the free government for

which they were fighting provided everyone with an open field and fair chance for their industry, enterprise, and intelligence. lincoln was born on the frontier in obscure circumstances, yet he rose the highest office in the land. he was proof that the ideals those soldiers were fighting for were worth the sacrifice. and i think my election as governor is further proof that, regardless of where you start out in life, if you work hard, do it for the right reasons, you can succeed in the united states of america. [applause] now, when we launch this effort in january, the pundit class give us no chance. even today, the political and media class seemed eager to write our obit you where he. the great thing about our country is, every two years, those people have that one day in november with the elites do

not call the shots. where they do not get to craft the narrative and set the agenda. on election day, it is the voice of the people who rule. as governor, i will make sure florida remains a low tax state. we will hold people in government accountable. we will protect taxpayer dollars. we will ensure floridians from all walks of life have that open field and fair chance to realize their dream. and for those of you in high tax states who may be contemplating investing in florida, please know we will remain open for business. and we will save you an awful lot in taxes if you bring your investment to florida. there are a lot of people i have

to thank, and unfortunately, i just cannot thank everyone. but i tell you this, my most significant and valued supporter, despite what the media may say, is standing right next to me, my wife. you know, we met by chance at a driving range years ago. she has been my best friend. she is the best wife anybody could have. i very much hope and i think i will be a great governor, but i can guarantee you on day one of all 50 states, florida will have the best first lady in the country. i would like to thank my parents for all they did for me. especially my mother who is a retired nurse. we have two kids under two. when you're running for governor in this massive state, it is

help that she has been there helping us get through this really difficult process. i love her very much and i want to thank her. i also want to thank all the great volunteers that we had throughout the state of florida. the bottom line is, i vessel. am a i am putting out the ideas and the leadership, but you are the ones that made this victory happen. you knocked on doors, you made calls, and you sent me your prayers across the state of florida. truth be told, one of the reasons i worked so hard is because i saw you working hard and i did not want to let you down. in i also want to thank our campaign staff, who worked very, very hard throughout this process, starting with our campaign chairman suzy wiles, the best in the business.

she worked and everyone worked so hard and were instrumental. i want to thank our wonderful lieutenant governor elect, jeanette nuñez. [applause] when we started the campaign and she got on the ticket, she was kind of our secret weapon. i think now her force and presence has been witnessed by the entire state, and people know we are getting a special woman to be our lieutenant governor. [applause] she will be, when she takes office, the highest ranking hispanic female in the history of the state of florida. [applause] i would also like to thank governor rick scott for his leadership as governor.

we have a lot of opportunities in florida, particularly building a stronger economy. that is in large part due to the hard work of rick scott for eight years focusing on bringing florida's economy back. it's never been better. we haven't reached our potential. that's what i'm going to work on doing. but governor scott has done a great job for the people of the state of florida. finally, i would like to thank our president for standing by me when -- [applause] for standing by me when it was not necessarily the smart thing to do. mr. president, i look forward to working with you to advance florida's priorities. i think you are going to get tired of me calling you asking you for things for florida, but i look forward to that. i think we will have a great

partnership. [applause] i'm excited for the opportunities for florida. i'm excited to be able to serve as the leader of the state. when i was in iraq, it did not matter where our fellow service members came from, what they looked like. we all wore the same american flag patch on our uniform. we never thought about which of the folks back home we were fighting for, republicans, democrats, we stood for all americans. now, political campaigns are rough business and are often about highlighting our differences. unfortunately, in this day and age, they spiral all right in demagoguery. but governing is different. governing is about getting things done on behalf of the people in florida. keeping the economy going, improving our water quality and environments. promoting public safety. expanding education opportunities. we need to build a florida that is cleaner, safer, stronger and that will be my guiding light as

governor. you can count on me if you are a low income family and you are relying on a step up for student scholarship for your child to have education opportunities, you can count on me to keep that going. if you are somebody who is interested in protecting the environment that floridians enjoy, you can count on me to stand for clean water, fight red tides, and restore the everglades. [applause] floridians can count on me to keep taxes low and to use our low tax climate to drive more investment into the state of florida. we can have real significant gains in manufacturing technology, that will mean a broader economic base, higher-paying jobs. you end up raising more money for the government with low tax rates so you can do things for the environment and education and public safety. law enforcement can count on me

to stand by them. [applause] i was honored to have support from almost every law enforcement agency or group in florida. there was not a single campaign stop i did not go where someone in uniform did not come up to me and say, sir, we are behind you. we are counting on you. just understand, i appreciate the job you do to keep floridians safe. we'll stand by you 100%. [applause] as a veteran, floridians can count on me to stand up for our active duty military mission in the state of florida and for our great veterans who have done so much. [applause] floridians can count on me to appoint solid constitutionalists to our state supreme court and other courts, so that we can end judicial activism and restore

the constitutional order. we've got an awful lot to do. we have a lot of opportunities. i believe you have to turn the page on a political campaign. you have got to be willing to work with floridians from all walks of life. i don't care if you were against me in the campaign. i want to work with you to advance our common priorities. if we think that way, i don't think there's going to be limits to the amount of good we can do. it is an honor to be here tonight as the governor-elect. we are looking forward to getting going very quickly. as we juggle two kids under 2 and all that goes with that. but i promise you that as governor, i will fight the good fight. i will finish the race. i will keep the faith on behalf of the great state of florida and the wonderful people we have here. thank you. god bless you guys.

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policy issues that impact you. coming up this morning, we will open the phone lines all morning and take her social media comments on the campaign 2018 elections and results across the nation. be sure to watch "washington journal" live at 7:00 eastern this morning. join the discussion. >> republicans have retained control of the u.s. senate and expanded their majority. four states have yet to be decided -- arizona, montana, mississippi, and florida. meanwhile, democrats in the house have gained 27 seats with the balance of power in the andber at 193 republicans 219 democrats. the headline, ted cruz reelected to the u.s. senate after a surprisingly competitive race. the incumbent republican who

read for president in 2016 but failed to win his party's nomination claimed victory in an outcome that was not necessarily surprising. texas is republican stronghold with the party holding the governor's mansion, both senate seats, and safe majorities in both chambers of the state legislature. of the 36 congressional districts, only 11 are held by democrats. but it comes as a major disappointment to texas democrat amid a progressive -- and many progressives national. your senator cruz and congressman beto o'rourke. guest: ♪ usa! usa! usa!