‘We’re not Lawton Chiles’ party anymore’: Audrey Gibson makes case for FDP Chair run

Audrey Gibson

Former state Sen. Audrey Gibson once led the Duval County Democratic Party. Now, in the wake of a historic loss suffered by the Florida Democratic Party (FDP) last Fall, she is seeking to bring her talents to the state party.

During an interview with Florida Politics, Gibson stressed that she wasn’t running “against” current Chair Nikki Fried and that she wouldn’t “play the blame game.”

However, the longtime Jacksonville elected leader made it clear that the vision and execution of Fried and current party leadership was directly responsible for the FDP reaching previously unimaginable lows in relevance with voters and on the governmental level.

Among the issues Gibson articulated were that the state party has embraced a “cookie cutter,” generic message that is ignorant of the cultural diversity of the state and doesn’t speak to core voters, in contrast to President-elect Donald Trump.

And she argues that authenticity gap has hurt Democrats, even among voters who don’t agree with the incoming administration’s agenda.

“Trump says what people are thinking. He has no filter. He’s crazy like a fox,” Gibson said Monday, drawing a decided contrast between the messaging on the opposition side and that of Fried’s organization.

Gibson noted that filtered down into the sole statewide race in 2024, in which Debbie Mucarsel-Powell was drubbed by U.S. Sen. Rick Scott.

Part of the issue there: Mucarsel-Powell failed to define herself or to effectively define her opponent, with the most memorable spot of her campaign depicting the longtime Republican elected official as a snake.

“What are you telling us about Rick Scott that we don’t already know? We’ve heard it a gazillion times already,” Gibson commented.

Gibson argued that 2024’s failings came down to an inability of party leaders to see the political landscape.

“I do think there were things that were very much missed in terms of data, because when you talk about elections and turnout, it’s data, it’s motivation, it’s messaging. All of those things go together to make people want to believe that you can help them be better, because that’s what they’re actually looking for.”

Democrats failed to offer that vision, Gibson said, due to a “lack of cultural competency” and “understanding the electorate.” They embraced a “national message” at the expense of targeted appeals to specific groups in this very “multicultural” state. In doing so, Gibson believes the party sabotaged its coalition with generic, one-size-fits-all appeals.

“We also have to understand the religiosity of people, because if our message is so focused on social issues, and people are talking about economic issues, we have to talk to them about economic issues,” Gibson said.

Failure to connect to voters on pocketbook matters in the way previous generations of Democrats, such as former Gov. Lawton Chiles did, led to voters who were taken for granted by the party walking away.

Gibson recounted the story of an older Black man who was discussing the election with her, and he noted that he wasn’t supporting the amendment that would remove state restrictions on abortion, before he let her know his issues ran deeper than ballot initiatives.

He said he didn’t intend to vote for presidential nominee Kamala Harris either, which Gibson said showed a disconnect between Democratic messaging and target demographics on “core values.”

“You have to match the data with the people. What kind of families are there? Where’s their neighborhood? What’s the economic situation in their particular neighborhood? What are they talking about at the kitchen table or in the car? It’s not the words ‘democracy’ and ‘freedom.’ Yes, those are important values, but what does that really mean to people?”

Gibson emphasizes the importance of data, but as a way of meeting voters where they are, communicating with them well before they cast ballots and expanding the coalition of likely Democratic voters.

“You can’t wait until it’s election time to start having conversations. And the way we look at that is really, I believe it’s data-driven. Then you can create the jugular messages that we don’t create. You have to talk to people where they are. You can’t try to convince NPAs at the last minute that they should be voting with us, right?” Gibson said.

“We have to listen to people. We are a very multicultural state. You have to listen to those cultural things that they are concerned about because that’s their everyday life,” Gibson added, noting that just because voters have a “D” beside their name “doesn’t necessarily mean you’re embracing everything that’s being said or what’s not being said” by party leadership.

Democrats need to communicate with people at “gathering places,” she said, rather than the kinds of MSNBC and CNN interviews Fried has conducted during her tenure atop the party.

“We can’t just show up to churches when it’s time for an election. That doesn’t work. You can’t say, ‘Oh, I’m going to start meeting with pastors.’ OK, what does that mean? You’re going to meet with them and you’re going to say what?”