Democrats have been hit with a lot of bad news prior to the 2022 midterms and 2024 presidential elections.
And while previously Florida used to be known as a battleground state for elections, Republicans have now dominated the state entirely, becoming a self-reinforcing phenomenon.
Tampa Bay Times has reported that the Republican party has officially made Florida a red state, spelling out devastating consequences for Democrats.
Executive director of the Republican Party of Florida Helen Aguirre Ferré stated:
“This is a milestone moment in Florida’s history.”
Voter registration data reveals that there are 5,142,002 registered Republicans in the state of Florida in 2022 compared to 5,007,590 registered Democrats. This means that there are now 134,412 more registered Republicans in the state than Democrats.
Longtime Florida Democratic strategist Stave Schale reports that Democrats could now be in huge trouble going forward.
Here’s what Schale wrote on his blog:
“Without a full-frontal, professional and accountable partisan effort to turn it around, sometime before the end of this year, there will be more Republicans registered in Florida than Democrats.”
“That has NEVER happened before. And, given their voters have higher turnout scores — this isn’t a great place to start,” he added.
Republicans are hyperaware of their growth and don’t plan on stopping.
“In a state like Florida, when you consider that you get 1,000 new residents a day, you really can’t stop. You have to keep going and you have to keep engaging,” said Helen Aguirre Ferré, Republican Party of Florida’s executive director.
Another party leader was even blunter. Florida GOP State Chair Sen. Joe Gruters said:
“We are going to flip Florida and we’re going to make Florida red permanently.”
More details of this report from Conservative Brief:
Democrats in Florida are a minority and that minority is liable to grow once the GOP-controlled legislature begins its redistricting process later this year, leaving them further behind and making it even more difficult for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to keep her iron grip on the lower chamber.
Democrats fear that Republicans will use the state’s massive population growth as a means of eliminating some of their congressional seats.
That enormous growth, however, makes it much more likely that Republicans, who control 16 of the state legislature’s 27 seats, are going to be looking hard and fast at paring that down during redistricting in a way that will help lock in a GOP majority for years to come.
An op-ed in the Tallahassee Democrat encourages liberals to “play the long game” and that the state is continuing to shift more towards Republicans.
Here’s what Cliff Staten wrote in the op-ed:
“Democrats are at a distinct disadvantage in Florida. Republicans have been in control of the executive and legislative branches since 1998. They have redrawn district lines to their favor. The number of registered Republicans is now greater than the number of registered Democrats and the Cuban-American population is trending even more Republican.”
“Gov. DeSantis is extremely popular among Republicans. There is fear among many Florida Democrats that the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Governors Association, and national donors will simply write off Florida as a red state. The question that must be addressed is what, if anything, can the Democrats do in Florida?” the report added.
And that’s not the only concern that Democrats are facing right now. In fact, many are sounding the alarm about how “bleak” Florida is looking for the party.
Here’s what an unnamed Florida Democratic official told The Hill:
“It feels a little bit like we’re kind of set up to fail. It’s not any one person’s fault. A lot of these problems have existed for years. But for a party that has been decimated in the last few elections and especially the last one, I’m not seeing a sense of urgency yet.”
Sources: ConservativeBrief, Tampa Bay Times
