ORLANDO, FL—Florida GOP Chairman Evan Power taunted Democrats for rebranding their mascot from a donkey to a panther during their "Leadership Blue" fundraising weekend, saying their animal change is fitting for the "endangered species" that is Florida Democrats.
During a Saturday night gala at the Disney Contemporary Resort, Florida Democratic Chairwoman Nikki Fried unveiled a change in mascot for the party, saying the state panther, endangered since 1967, "won't back down from a challenge".
On X, she posted, "We gave the donkey the boot. It's time to kick ass in Florida." She attached a hopeful, one-minute video of standout Democrats, insisting that "Florida is winnable."
GOP Chair Power doesn't see it that way.
"The choice in changing your mascot from a donkey to a Florida Panther is particularly fitting with its status as an endangered species," Power said in a statement released Monday morning. "If you come into contact with a Florida Democrat in the wild, whether they identify as a donkey or a panther, we urge you to notify Nikki Fried and her team immediately."
"Their far-left policies, such as open borders, high inflation, and surging crime, only risk further collapsing Nikki’s voter registration numbers in the state," he added.
Power referenced Republicans leading Democrats in voter registrations by an over 900,000 margin. This staggering lead spells out immense difficulty for Democrats in both the upcoming presidential election and statewide elections in November, considering that just four years ago, Republicans trailed Democrats by over 134,000 voters.
That means that in just four years, Republicans have netted over 45,000 more registered voters. Democrats, on the other hand, have lost over 900,000.
Many Democrats have attributed this seemingly apathetic party interest to a 2022 law signed by Governor Ron DeSantis removing inactive voters from voter rolls, insisting that voter registration numbers are inflated and would likely hover at around a 500,000 lead instead.
