In bid for DNC chair, Ben Wikler tells Florida Dems future of democracy ‘runs through Florida’

Ben Wikler in Orlando. Photo by Jacob Ogles.

In his bid to become Democratic National Committee Chair, Ben Wikler hobnobbed with delegates at the Florida Democratic Party’s organizational meeting.

There, the Wisconsin Democrat promised the Sunshine State will not be left behind by the national party with him in charge.

“The long-term future of American democracy and of the American Democrats runs through Florida,” he said.

The current Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair is one of several candidates in the mix to succeed DNC Chair Jaime Harrison.

He attended the FDP organizational meeting in Orlando, where Democrats re-elected Nikki Fried as state Chair. Members throughout the day were also electing DNC delegates from every congressional candidate in the state, providing a chance for Wikler to personally interface with dozens of individuals with a vote in the DNC race.

He noted that Florida and Wisconsin, both states carried in the election by Trump, recently had a very close political make-up.

“In 2018, Florida and Wisconsin had very similar election results,” he said.

That year, Democrat Tony Evers won Wisconsin’s race for Governor by just over a percentage point, while Republican Ron DeSantis won election as Florida Governor by less than half a percentage point. Both won re-election in 2022, DeSantis by a landslide and Evers by just over 3 points.

In November, Republican Donald Trump won both states’ electoral votes as he secured a return trip to the White House.

Wikler said the national party will work with Florida Democrats to rebuild the party here from the ground up. He assured Florida Democrats the party will provide for its needs in the coming election cycles.

“Florida’s battleground status in four years will depend on what we do in ‘25 and ‘26 and ’27,” Wikler said. “The goal is to build a national strategy that is composed of state-by-state strategies to do the on-the-ground voter registration, communication, mobilization, to win local offices, to win congressional offices in a way that get us where we need to go in the next four years so that Republicans are running scared.”