With 6 months until the 2024 presidential election, the Florida Democratic Party proclaims that “Florida is back in play.” Weeks ago, the Biden Administration announced that it would be making a push in Florida, assuring that it could sway the state to vote blue. The state's voting record and recent developments prove otherwise as the move could be more difficult than expected.
In a newly released advertisement, Florida Democrats affirm that Florida could go blue in 2024. The only problem is that Florida’s trajectory proves the opposite.
In the advertisement, footage of Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Nikki Fried (D), President Joe Biden (D), and other prominent Florida Democrats is shown. Voiceovers from political commentators play over the footage as they share their belief that Florida is not entirely in the grasp of Republican control.
Most recently, Madison County flipped red, resulting in 57 out of 67 counties being in Republican control. Moreover, Republicans currently have over 900,000 more registered voters than Democrats.
Despite this, the new advertisement highlights that Democrats have picked up some significant wins since the 2022 midterm election.
In the 2023 Jacksonville Mayoral race, Nonprofit founder Donna Keegan (D) defeated Florida Rep. Daniel Davis (R), whom Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) endorsed, to become Jacksonville’s new mayor after incumbent Republican mayor Lenny Curry (R) was term-limited. Similarly, in January, aerospace executive Tom Keen (D) defeated Erika Booth (R), an Osceola County school board member, turning Florida’s State House 35th District blue.
Other Democrats like Florida Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D) have echoed Chairwoman Fried’s sentiment that Florida is not entirely a Republican stronghold.
During an interview with MSNBC, Rep. Moskowitz commented that Democrats could take Florida because of the issues that will be on the ballot, mainly Amendment 4.
“4 years ago, Democrats had a 2,000-voter difference… but they’ve [Republicans] made a mistake with the 6-week ban. I mean, they’re to the right of Donald Trump on the 6-week ban. Who are they appealing to? The flat earthers? I don’t understand who that was for – the 6-week ban,” he explained.
