Florida Democrats Preach Patience, Pitch Ten-Year Plan: “Not Going to Happen Overnight”

ORLANDO, FLORIDA — Leaders in the Florida Democrat Party unveiled their plan to recapture the Sunshine State while doing their best to modify expectations for those seeking a quick turnaround. 

“We’ve got to be honest with ourselves, this plan takes time,” Congressman Scott Frost (D-Florida) told attendees of the Florida Democratic Convention in Orlando on Saturday, per Florida Politics. “It’s not going to happen overnight.”

The party has been in a tailspin since the onset of COVID-19 and suffered major losses at the ballot box as a result. In March 2020, Democrats led Republicans in voter registration by nearly 300,000. From July 2020 to December 2020, Democrats saw their lead tank, dropping by roughly 150,000 voters.

In September 2021, Republicans took the lead for the first time in the history of the state. Since then, they’ve added to it every month.

In addition to its post-COVID surge, the GOP has also flipped 14 counties red since 2018. In terms of raw voters, Republicans have added 956,000 Floridians since 2016. Most recent data show the GOP currently holds a lead of 626,618 registered voters, as of the end of September.

READ MORE: Florida GOP Extends Voter Registration Lead Over Democrats to 626,000

On Election Day 2022, Governor Ron DeSantis cruised to a historic 19-point win over his Democrat challenger Charlie Crist, while Republicans locked up supermajorities in both chambers of the Florida Legislature.

A TEN-YEAR PLAN TO “TAKE FLORIDA BACK”

Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried discussed a ten-year plan – dubbed “Take Florida Back” – to increase donor support, reclaim majority voter registration and win key seats on the federal, state and local levels. The plan will “deploy new technology and organizing techniques unseen by Florida Democrats since former President Barack Obama’s back-to-back wins in 2008 and 2012,” according to Florida Politics. 

Fried said she expects the Republicans’ recent success will lead to hubris and strategic errors in a state that she believes is not as conservative as the recent results indicate. The chair compared DeSantis’ to former Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. Like DeSantis, Walker hoped to leverage the popularity from his home state would produce a successful campaign for the White House in 2016.

“Just like Scott Walker convinced the country to give up on Wisconsin, Ron is trying to convince America that Florida is a deep red state, but the people in this room know the truth,” Fried said.

Walker was initially considered a promising candidate to win the GOP presidential nomination, but wound up dropping out early in the race. Two years later, he lost his bid for a third term as governor to Democrat Tony Evers.

Frost believes the “Take Florida Back” plan will win over donors that, he contends, didn’t receive one from former party chair Manny Diaz. 

“[Donors] want to know what the plan is,” Frost told the Orlando Sentinel on Friday. “And I think the previous leadership of the party just wasn’t able to really provide that.”