Democrats bring ‘Take Back Florida’ tour to North Florida

The Florida Democratic Party (FDP) is continuing its month-long voter registration effort, swinging through North Florida this week.

The “Take Back Florida” tour, announced in late July, aims to reverse the party’s low adoption rate among new voters. Florida Democrats had held a lead in registered voters for decades until 2021, when Republicans caught up.

The GOP’s lead has only grown over the past two years. In July, the Republican Party of Florida touted fresh numbers showing a greater than 500,000-voter lead over Democrats. While voters are registering as Democrats in fewer numbers, the swing is also attributable to voters being cut from the rolls and because a greater proportion of voters are registering as no-party voters than in years past.

Regardless, Democrats have had little to celebrate in recent years as the state has gone from a perennial toss-up to reliably Republican. FDP Chair Nikki Fried — who is spearheading the tour — was the last Democrat to be elected statewide, and she did so by fewer than 7,000 votes during an election cycle that saw Florida Democrats cede a U.S. Senate seat and lose yet another close race for Governor.

When Fried announced the “Take Back Florida” tour, which is backed by a $1 million commitment from FDP, she described registering new Democrats as an urgent mission. The first stops targeted Hispanic voters in Miami-Dade County, a once reliably Democratic area that voted Republican in 2022.

The North Florida leg of the tour includes two stops on Tuesday. FDP’s bus will roll into Clay County at 10 a.m. and will then make its way to Jacksonville for two events.

Fried will hold a noon press conference centered around the “affordability crisis” alongside local and state leaders, including Rep. Angie Nixon, City Council member Jimmy Peluso, and Duval Democratic Party Chair Daniel Henry.

Expect property insurance, health care costs, and other issues impacting people’s fiscal standing to be discussed then.

“The message resonates across the entire state, but Jacksonville in particular,” Fried said. “Rent in Jacksonville has gone up nearly 50% since Ron DeSantis (was elected Governor) and we know the property insurance, especially on coastal communities, is at an all time high if you need to find property insurance.”

A Take Back Jacksonville event is scheduled for 6 p.m.

That event, like those elsewhere in the state, is intended to “re-energize the base (and) grassroots coalitions and (have) concrete plans of what our volunteers and people on the ground could do to help us take back our state. from voter registration to volunteering to running for office,” Fried said.

Location information is available with an online registration.

According to the Take Back Florida tour page, the next event will be held on Aug. 23 in Gilchrist County, a small county where Republicans outnumber Democrats 4-to-1.

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A.G. Gancarski of Florida Politics contributed to this report.