Things are not going well for Democrats in Florida these days.
They have fallen on hard times since Ron DeSantis first took office.
And Ron DeSantis caused the top Florida Democrat to have this embarrassing meltdown.
Florida was the biggest swing state in the country for decades and its winner often decided who won the Presidency.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis won narrowly during his first race in the 2018 Election.
Since then, the Sunshine State has undergone a dramatic shift to the right under his watch.
The 2022 Midterm Elections saw DeSantis win re-election in a landslide and Republicans romp up and down the ticket.
Florida Democrats are not handling their loss of political power well.
Florida Democrat Chair whines over party’s declining relevance
Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Nikki Fried was the last member of her party to hold statewide elected office.
She barely won the Commissioner of Agriculture race in the 2018 Election by a little over 6,000 votes.
Fried lost to former Governor Charlie Crist, a RINO turned Democrat, in the Democrat Primary for Governor in the 2022 Election.
She became the leader of the opposition to DeSantis when she was tapped to head up the Florida Democrat Party.
Ahead of the 2024 Election, things are looking worse than ever for Florida Democrats.
Republicans now have a more than 850,000 advantage over them in voters registered by party in the state.
Fried blamed voter suppression and her party for Democrats’ recent struggles. She cited her party for its “lack of organization”, even though she is in charge.
“Florida is an under-organized, voter suppressed state,” Fried said. “When you have a Democratic Party who’s able to overcome all of those issues, which is what we are working on last year and this year, it puts Florida in play.”
Ahead of the crucial 2024 Election, Florida’s top Democrat is already offering excuses in what is likely to be another disappointing election cycle for them.
The Florida Democrat Party account on social media said, “We’re putting in the work to put Florida back into play in 2024.”
National Democrats are not acting like they believe Florida will be competitive this year.
Democrats struggled to recruit a challenger to Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) this fall, and President Joe Biden’s campaign is not expected to seriously contest the state.
Voter registration trends are bad news for Florida Democrats
In the fall of 2018, during DeSantis’ first Gubernatorial campaign, Democrats had a more than 300,000-person advantage in registered voters.
In 2021, for the first time in Florida’s history, the Republicans overtook Democrats in voters registered by party.
Now that lead has become enlarged to more than 850,000 voters for Republicans, with Democrats having lost more than 600,000 registered voters since 2022.
The Florida Democrat Party is facing a protracted uphill battle to turn the Sunshine State into a swing state again.
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any developments to this ongoing story.
