Jacob Ogles
Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried believes national Democrats will invest in Florida in 2024. That goes for the Presidential Election, but also smaller races like an upcoming Special Election in House District 35.
Fried said she’s already talking with officials around President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign, some of whom she met with this week when Vice President Kamala Harris visited Orlando.
“I have faith that it’s going to happen,” Fried told reporters in Orlando. “I had an opportunity to talk to the Vice President yesterday, as well as the Biden Victory campaign, as well as the (Democratic National Committee), as well as all our national partners, as well as our national donors.”
Fried stopped in Orlando to kick off the “Take Back Florida” tour, which state Democrats plan to take to 18 counties in the next month. It’s part of an effort to create a year-round political presence throughout Florida.
The enthusiasm comes in the wake of a poor showing by Florida Democrats in November, even as the national party nationally fought back historic Midterm trends and grew its Senate majority while minimizing House losses. In Florida, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio both won landslide re-election bids as Democratic candidates suffered in races up and down the ballot.
Still, Fried held her press conference surrounded largely by candidates who had won.
U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost, an Orlando Democrat and the first Generation Z member of Congress, said confidently that Florida will remain a key state over the coming year.
He already has his own campaign staff knocking doors in HD 35 and making sure voters know about a coming Special Election. While the legislative race won’t impact his work in Congress directly, he sees it as part of an effort to raise party presence.
Frost also serves on the advisory board for Biden’s re-election campaign. The fact he and state Sen. Shevrin Jones, a Miami Gardens Democrat, hold two of 50 spots on the board in itself shows a commitment to Florida. So does Harris visiting Florida twice in the past week.
“The administration has been here almost every week,” Frost said, noting that when the ticket-topper candidates aren’t campaigning in Florida, Cabinet members like Education Secretary Miguel Cardona make stops.
Fried also suggests the party is showing solidarity right now. She notably stood alongside State Attorney Monique Worrell, a prosecutor Gov. Ron DeSantis has criticized and hinted he may suspend over prosecutorial leniency. Worrell said she knows of no continued review taking place following criticisms a few months ago.
Worrell said Florida can still be politically competitive as long as Democrats engage voters. If anything, she suggested DeSantis’ messaging about a “free Florida” has helped fuel pushback on voters concerned their rights are being stripped away.
“The reality is we are not free,” she said. “Freedom has been replaced with fear. It is fear in Florida, because it is fear that makes you want to change history. It’s fear that makes you want to repress information. It’s fear that makes you want to push back on diversity.”
Several speakers alluded to a political scandal that has consumed DeSantis’ presidential campaign, new Board of Education standards that require teachers to tell students slaves developed skills that could be applied “for their personal benefit.”
State Rep. LaVon Bracy Davis said Black voters were already incensed about the standards even before Harris came to Florida to denounce them. But Harris citing the language has increased attention.
“You always love a soundbite from the White House and the Oval Office, so we’re grateful for that,” she said. “But make no mistake about it, as soon as these standards hit, Floridians, and specifically Black Floridians, were enraged.”
Will this turn to voter turnout? Carlos Guillermo Smith, a former state House lawmaker who lost his seat in November, feels a shift in energy. The Orlando Democrat suggested that as DeSantis’ campaign flounders on the national stage, many voters come to resent the Governor prioritizing culture wars and his ambitions, over daily concerns like property insurance rates over the last year.
“We know the stakes in this next election are extremely high,” said Smith, who is now running for an open state Senate seat.
Also standing alongside Fried in Orlando was state Rep. Anna Eskamani, an Orlando Democrat who notably vocally fought for a different political leader than Fried to take over the party earlier this year. Eskamani said she now feels good about the direction of the party, and said suggestions to boost year-round presence have been taken to heart.
“We’re not going to be successful unless we’re all working together in unison,” Eskamani said.
