In midterms' big showdown, DeSantis defeated the Donald

One likely contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024 had a triumphant night on Tuesday. It wasn't Donald Trump.

The former president spent the final days of the campaign lashing out and even threatening Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. The Florida governor didn't return fire, other than to hold his own campaign event on Saturday, competing with a Trump rally in Miami and further irking the former president.

Come election night, however, it was DeSantis holding the ebullient victory party, having won re-election in a 20-point landslide, almost 15 points better than Trump's 2020 margin in their shared home state. At the party, DeSantis's supporters chanted "Two more years!" — encouraging the governor to seek the presidency before finishing his second term.

Trump's own watch party, by contrast, was diminished by a tropical storm barreling toward his Mar-a-Lago resort. Trump spoke briefly Tuesday night to thank reporters for attending, boast about his winning record of endorsements and congratulate a few Republican candidates who'd won or were leading. But not DeSantis.

Trump notched several wins with favored candidates in marquee Senate races, such as Ted Budd in North Carolina and J.D. Vance in Ohio. (Vance, notably, thanked dozens of people in his victory speech, but not Trump.) Nonetheless, the results were not the blowout that Trump had hoped to take credit for before quickly announcing his own 2024 candidacy.

DeSantis's allies trumpeted his resounding re-election Tuesday as a sign that national GOP energy is behind him. The governor romped over Democrat Charlie Crist and won Miami-Dade County, which hasn't been claimed by a Republican since Gov. Jeb Bush in 2002.

Still, it wasn't only DeSantis among potential Trump challengers who looked emboldened on Tuesday night, rather than cowed to clear the next presidential field for Trump. Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) used his victory speech to allude to his own potential ambitions, saying he wished his grandfather had "lived long enough to see perhaps another man of color elected president of the United States."

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who won re-election after surviving a primary challenge encouraged by Trump and running far ahead of Trump's hand-picked Senate candidate Herschel Walker on Tuesday, took an unusual swipe at Trump in his victory speech. He brushed back at "presidents, both current and former" for criticizing his early move to lift pandemic restrictions.

Midterms are inevitably a referendum on the party in power, but Trump made this year's about him, as well. Though not on the ballot himself, the "Trump ticket" was, as he called his slate of endorsed candidates in key states. How those candidates fared is sure to fuel rifts within the Republican Party over the electoral viability of Trump's "Make America Great Again" movement after losses in 2018 and 2020.

Their success in some states could embolden hard-liners to press forward with remolding the party in Trump's image. Yet the loss of winnable seats elsewhere will add to concerns that Trump's grip on the party is hobbling its chances with independents and swing voters who decide close elections.

Trump was by far the largest influence on this cycle's GOP primaries, with about 82% of his endorsed candidates (not including incumbents) going on to win, according to a Washington Post analysis. In some cases, Trump swooped in to jump on board with candidates already on track to win, such as Pennsylvania gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano. For others, such as Mehmet Oz's Senate primary squeaker in the same state, Trump's backing was clearly decisive. But on Tuesday night, Mastriano lost dramatically, and Oz was narrowly defeated.

Trump was angling to claim credit for Republican gains, with his team pointing to his 30 rallies, 50 in-person fundraisers, 60 tele-rallies and robocalls, and more than $16 million in super PAC ads for statewide offices in crucial states.

Trump had been determined to seize the spotlight Tuesday night, throwing a big party in a gilded ballroom at his club, inviting current and former advisers to see him speak flanked by flags. He planned to interview staffers later this week and had scheduled his presidential announcement for next week, according to multiple advisers.

Expecting a Republican wave, Trump wanted to go so far as to declare his candidacy for president before Election Day, according to people familiar with the discussions. But advisers talked him out of it, arguing he could get drowned out by other news or blamed for mobilizing Democratic turnout.

While advisers succeeded in pushing back a formal announcement, Trump became increasingly explicit about his intentions, telling his supporters they'd be "so happy" "very soon" and finally, at a Monday rally, promising a "very special announcement" for Nov. 15.

Part of his urgency, advisers said, came from his desire to pressure other Republicans to line up behind him and clear the field of potential rivals, especially DeSantis.

Trump has fixated on DeSantis more than other potential 2024 rivals, watching his large crowds and growing frustrated at his positive news coverage — while calling him ungrateful for Trump's support in his 2018 campaign, allies say. He tested many nicknames and attacks before landing on "Ron DeSanctimonious" last week.

On Monday night, Trump attacked DeSantis while speaking to reporters on his plane and even threatened to release damaging information about him should he run.