Republicans appear ready to claim more registered voters than Democrats in Florida for the first time in modern political history, Politico reported.
Democrats had 23,055 more registered voters than Republicans in the Sunshine State at the end of August — that was down from the 700,000 voters advantage President Barack Obama won the state with in 2008.
"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," longtime Florida Democrat operative Steve Schale told Politico.
"And, given their voters have higher turnout scores — this isn’t a great place to start."
Politico said that Florida having more registered Republicans than Democrats heading into 2022 could lead to the state losing battleground status.
"Democrats in Florida are facing a five-alarm political fire headed into the 2022 midterms," Politico wrote. "They’ve known about it for years, but have been unable to extinguish the blaze."
The state currently run by Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., has not become more Republican over just one issue, Politico said. Lack of money, an overall failure to prioritize voter registration, and continued interparty fighting that has split the party’s resources all have contributed.
"It is a huge deal for Florida Democrats, I can’t stress that enough," Democrat state Rep. Anna Eskamani told Politico.
Florida Democratic Party chair Manny Diaz maintains that Democrats are working to reverse the trend and that the party registered 20,000 Democrats in September.
"We are starting to hit our stride and hopefully continue for us," Diaz told Politico.
Diaz said that Florida’s Democrat counties had been updating their voter records faster during this off-year than GOP counties.
Politico reported that the reapportioning of Florida’s 28 congressional districts, 120 state House districts, and 40 Senate districts likely will intensify political divides.
On Sunday, former President Donald Trump endorsed Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla.
"Congressman Mike Waltz is a relentless fighter for the incredible people of Florida," Trump said. "As a former U.S. Army Green Beret, Mike is working hard in Congress to hold Joe Biden accountable for his colossal failure and deadly disaster in Afghanistan. He will not let the incompetent leader of our Country get away with giving the Taliban $85 Billion in American strategic Military equipment, nor will he let anyone forget about our 13 Great Warriors whose lives were lost because of the Biden Administration’s incompetence."
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.