Congratulations to Congressman Brian Mast and Islamorada Village Councilman-elect Steve Friedman, who won their races last night!

They were among four candidates VoteWater endorsed in the election; the other two, unfortunately, fell short. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell lost to incumbent U.S. Sen. Rick Scott while Miami-Dade Commission District 7 candidate Cindy Lerner lost in a runoff with incumbent commissioner Racquel Regalado.

What do last night’s results in Florida and beyond mean for the clean-water cause? We expect Mast will continue to be a champion for cleaner water in his district; the St. Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon will continue to benefit from his efforts. In the Keys, we expect Friedman will cast his votes with the region’s iconic and fragile waters foremost in his thinking.

Elsewhere, not much will change.

Across Florida, incumbents — including some of those who spend the most time at the “dirty money” trough — won re-election handily. Florida’s Republican Party retains its legislative supermajority.

This means we can expect to see more of the same, more of what we’ve seen in recent years at the federal, state and local level:

Significant funding for Everglades restoration and for projects to address dirty water in key regions like the Indian River Lagoon should continue, which is good. But we are unlikely to see any attempt to do more, like going after pollution at the source. Ultimately then, even as we spend billions, our water quality will continue to decline.

The breakneck, irresponsible pace of growth will continue, with state legislators pushing new bills to expedite even more residential and commercial development, even as local officials in your community sign off on more rezonings, more changes to your local comprehensive plan that allow for ever-more development, which contributes to ever-more problems like the degradation of our waters.

And, of course, dirty money will continue to rule the roost. As noted in our pre-election newsletter, in the month before Tuesday’s election polluting special interests pumped well over $4 million into the coffers of politicians and PACs. Those special interests, then, are the real victors in this election; by keeping the status quo intact, they ensure their own privileges remain intact.

Clearly, we have to challenge and change this dynamic. Given the “red” wave that once again just washed over Florida, the movement needs to court more conservatives who want to conserve our waters. And we need to continue to focus on undue political influence — a la our Dirty Money Project — because people of good conscience on both sides of the aisle hate corruption.

Elections can be disheartening. But at VoteWater, we’re in it to win it — and that means playing the long game. So congratulations to those who won, our condolences to those who lost — and let’s keep working toward the clean-water future ALL Floridians deserve.