Staff Reports
Last Call — A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.
First Shot
The Florida Democratic Party is continuing its monthlong 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 NPAs than in years past.
Regardless, Democrats have had little to celebrate in recent years as the state has gone from a perennial tossup 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, which 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. In the Bold City, Fried will hold a noon news conference alongside local and state leaders. A Take Back Jacksonville event is scheduled for 6 p.m.
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 Republicans outnumber Democrats four-to-one.
Evening Reads
—“‘Fully expected the downfall’: Inside Ron DeSantis’ brawls with Florida Republicans” via Josh Dawsey of The Washington Post
—“The DeSantis slump” via Benjamin Wallace-Wells of The New Yorker
—“DeSantis’ picture of presidential power should terrify you” via Danny McAuliffe of Florida Politics
—“The GOP Primary is a field of broken dreams” via Elaine Godfrey of The Atlantic
—“DeSantis wants to win over parents — but he’s focusing on the wrong issues” via Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux of FiveThirtyEight
—“Who is Alex Kelly, DeSantis’ new acting chief of staff?” via Tristan Wood of City & State Florida
—”DeSantis hogged a bumper cars ride, then his campaign made it a bigger issue” via Jesse Scheckner of Florida Politics
—“New national GOP 2024 poll shows DeSantis in 3rd place” via A.G. Gancarski of Florida Politics
—“Deal reached in redistricting lawsuit. Outcome is a gamble for DeSantis and Democrats” via Mary Ellen Klas of the Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times
—“How two pop culture Twitter accounts turned into the internet’s wire service” via Christian Paz of Vox
Quote of the Day
“The more he’s out there, the more his numbers go down. It’s not a good long-term scenario for him. I fully expected the downfall of his campaign a long time ago.”
— Sen. Joe Gruters, on DeSantis 2024.
Bill Day’s latest
Breakthrough Insights
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Last Call is published by Peter Schorsch, assembled and edited by Phil Ammann and Drew Wilson with contributions from the staff of Florida Politics.
