Democratic Party voter turnout effort rolls into South Florida to shore up a traditional stronghold

Nikki Fried. Photo by Jacob Ogles.

The Democrats’ complete collapse in Florida in 2022 that re-elected Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis with a 20-point mandate has put even the traditional Democratic stronghold of South Florida on the blue team’s Take Back Florida tour.

The idea that votes in the tri-county area — Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties — collectively added up to boost DeSantis’ win was unimaginable in 2018. During that Midterm cycle, DeSantis’ opponent beat the Governor in those counties by more than half a million votes.

Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried acknowledges an urgent mission when the Democrats’ bus tour rolls into Miami Gardens Wednesday morning. It’s part of a $1 million effort the Democrats say they are investing in order to register 200,000 new voters.

With Republicans posting a 500,000-voter registration advantage statewide, Democrats have a lot of ground to cover and a stronghold to shore up.

“We’ve got a Hispanic population down in Miami-Dade to which we, as Democrats, haven’t gotten the message always right on,” Fried said. “And so that’s part of our message is being down in Miami-Dade and talking and listening to the Hispanic community and also to the marginalized communities of Miami-Dade as well.”

Scheduled to join her there are several elected Democrats including U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson, state Sen. Shevrin Jones and state Rep. Felicia Robinson. At another appearance later in the day, District 2 Miami Commissioner Sabina Covo will join the tour.

The location details are given to those willing to register here.

The next day, Fried will be in Palm Beach County for the first day of school, at the Urban League of West Palm Beach to talk about teacher vacancies and other education-related issues. She’ll be joined by U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, state Sen. Bobby Powell, Greenacres Mayor Joel Flores and a concerned parent, Krista Barth.

Six days into the tour, Fried said the voters she’s encountered have property insurance at the top of their issues.

She’s not blaming Republicans for climate change that has made flooding and disastrous storms more common, but they could’ve done better, she points out.

“Florida, for decades, has not paid attention to hardening our buildings, making sure we’ve got good drainage systems,” she said.

And she’s quick to point out that DeSantis vetoed a host of drainage projects in South Florida and Orlando. This fiscal year, more than $3 million in South Florida flooding fixes fell to the Governor’s veto pen as he’s been bragging about the state’s enviable finances.

She’s going to be explaining to voters how that affects them, she said.

“Something that insurance companies take a look at when they are evaluating staying in a state is how much work has been done on the ground,” Fried said. “Time and time again, they’ve been putting a Band-Aid on the problem and shoving it down the throats of Floridians.”