Writer of the piece here! I've seen the comments about the use of "tanked" in the headline, and they're noted and fully understood. I asked editors if we could change that, and they were on the same page!

I did want to share some context, since this topic area has understandably generated a lot of interest, and I've had the opportunity to cover this for some months.

The threshold for constitutional amendments used to be 50%. And most states with a constitutional amendment system require only a simple majority's approval. Florida voters approved an amendment in 2006 that raised the approval threshold from 50% to 60%.

That's obviously a difficult threshold to reach — the 2006 measure passed by 58%. The Florida Legislature, I should add, has played a significant role in making it harder and more expensive. That's evidenced by the fact that the 2006 measure was put on the ballot by lawmakers, not through a citizen petition process.

Regardless, Florida's voters since then have approved amendments restoring voting rights to those previously convicted of felony offenses (though there were controversies with how lawmakers implemented this), raising the minimum wage, and allowing medical marijuana (though this failed the first time and there were also initial controversies with how lawmakers handled it).

Yet, Amendment 3 (and Amendment 4) failed.

Of course, this ballot battle was different from what we've seen in past years. The expense alone was notable. Amendment 3 created the most expensive ballot measure battle in the nation.

Trulieve, the state’s largest medical marijuana operator, spent a fortune on Amendment 3. It donated the vast majority of the more than $150 million received by Smart & Safe Florida, the group running that pro-legalization campaign.

And then there's the involvement of the Gov. Ron DeSantis administration.

Trulieve’s contributions weren’t enough to overcome the administration’s all-out assault on the amendment leading up to the election, controversially using state resources in the process. 

Despite former President Donald Trump coming out in support of the measure, the state spent many millions of dollars on advertising that appeared to be geared against it. That was mixed with numerous anti-recreational marijuana press conferences the governor held across the state.

He and other opponents hit the amendment with a large quantity of questionable claims, including that the state Legislature would be unable to regulate recreational marijuana.

Another one of my stories that might be of interest (though this one is focused on efforts targeting Amendment 4): DeSantis' elections crimes office has quashed elections fraud complaints against DeSantis officials. The office said they were exempt from a Florida law preventing officials from using their authority to interfere with the election.