We’re continuing to learn more about just how badly Republicans beat Democrats in the state of Florida Tuesday night in the statewide elections.
There’s ongoing pressure for the chair of the Florida Democratic Party, Manny Diaz, to step down. So far, he's indicated he'll stay in his post.
Gov. Ron DeSantis defeated Congressman Charlie Crist by 19 points Tuesday night. It was the biggest win for a Republican governor since the end of Reconstruction. For the first time in recent history, there were more registered Republicans than Democrats across the state. The big difference, however, was only about half of the Democrats showed up Tuesday and around two-thirds of Republicans voted.
DeSantis flipped counties President Joe Biden won in 2022: Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, Hillsborough, Pinellas and Duval. One major problem for Democrats was a mismatch in turnout. Republican registered voters showed up, and Democrats did not, according to unofficial results posted online by Florida's supervisors of elections.
In Miami-Dade County, there are 135,229 more registered Democrats than Republicans, but more Republicans showed up: 61% of registered Republicans voted and only 46% of Democrat registered voters.
There are 106,299 more registered Democrats than Republicans in Palm Beach County. 55% of registered Democrats showed up and 66% of Republicans showed up.
The same thing happened in Central and North Florida in several major urban areas. There are 53,156 more registered Democrats than Republicans in Hillsborough County but only 39% of Democrats showed up and 44% of Republicans showed up to vote.
In North Florida’s Duval County, there are 31,173 more registered Democrats than Republicans, but 65% of Republican voters voted compared to 49% of Democrats.
There is a big chunk of no party affiliated voters across Florida who broke for DeSantis and Rubio as well.
Getting out the vote is when staff and money come into play. Campaigns and political parties get information from election officials every day during mail-in and early voting periods, showing who has voted. Then, candidates send people every day to knock on doors, make phone calls, or text them to get them to the polls. If they don’t go one day, then they follow up again another day. It takes time, staff hours, and money to pay those staff. That’s why political organization and “get out the vote” efforts are so important for campaigns. Republicans did much better in this election in Florida.
“Democrats need to be cognizant that this is a problem they cannot solve overnight and maybe not even in the next year or two. This is going to take a long time, perhaps 5-10 years," said Fernand Amandi, a Democratic pollster and professor of political science. "They need to start immediately if they want to contest Florida in the future. Otherwise, Florida will stay a red state like California has stayed a blue state since the mid-90s."
Democrats in Florida kept the races competitive in 2018, winning the agriculture commission race and losing the governor’s office by around 34,000 points. That year, national Democratic groups spent almost $60 million in the state, according to a state party memo released by chair Manny Diaz. In 2022, they only spent $1.4 million, according to the memo.
Without that outside money, the Florida Democratic party simply could not compete with DeSantis and Sen. Marco Rubio’s get-out-the-vote efforts.
