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MIAMI, Fla – After a dismal performance during the 2022 midterm elections, the Florida Democratic Party has mounted an all-out campaign this month hoping 2024 will mark a turning point.
The Take Back Florida campaign commenced with Democrats spending $1 million in voter registration efforts during a tour which started in Orlando and includes stops in Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Collier, Duval, Escambia, Gilchrist, Hernando, Hillsborough, Pinellas, Santa Rosa, Seminole, St. Lucie Jefferson, Lee and Leon Counties.
Democratic Party of Florida President Nikki Fried said the tour empowers Floridians to have a vote in the 2024 Presidential election and races in the U.S., Congress and the Florida Legislature.
Fried said the campaign focuses on education, health insurance, senior citizens, diversity and homeowners insurance.
Fried, a former Fla. gubernatorial candidate and Fla. Agriculture Commissioner, criticized Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and his allies for not safeguarding Floridans including refusing to expand Medicaid coverage, failure to address the state’s property insurance crisis and cutting funding for diversity, equity and inclusion programs at public universities and colleges.
Fried also panned DeSantis, who’s running for the Republican nomination for President in 2024, for his alleged attacks on Blacks and the LGBTQ community with his STOP W.O.K.E. Act and Don’t Say Gay law.
“This tour is all about motivating and empowering Floridians with the tools and training they need to take our state back," Fried said during a news conference in Orlando. “Unlike Ron DeSantis, we’re here, working on the ground and talking to voters about the issues they really care about."
Fried said DeSantis just stood by and watched nearly a million Floridians lose Medicaid coverage. "DeSantis refused to expand it," she said. "This legislature has failed to protect Floridians who need health care the most."
DeSantis’ campaign has been struggling since he announced his candidacy for President and he cut his staff to reboot his push to win the White House.
“FRIED ALSO PANNED DESANTIS, WHO’S RUNNING FOR THE REPUBLICAN
NOMINATION FOR PRESIDENT IN 2024, FOR HIS ALLEGED ATTACKS ON BLACKS AND THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY WITH HIS STOP W.O.K.E. ACT AND DON’T SAY GAY LAW.”
DeSantis made campaign stops in
Iowa, South Carolina, Nevada, California and Arizona, but still trails in most of the early polls with his chief rival former President Donald Trump leading the way despite facing a third
For President Biden, a CNN poll in June suggested his approval rating among registered voters was 35 percent with 62 percent of people disapproving of his performance.
However, a poll conducted by Race to the White House last month has Biden leading 44.1 percent to Trump’s 42.2 percent among registered Democrat and Republican voters in a rematch for the presidency.
But can Biden cut into the home base of Trump in Florida in 2024?
Trump won Florida in 2020 with 51.2 percent of the vote to Biden’s 47.9, and Democrats are seeking to win one of the biggest battleground seat occupied by Republican Senator Rick Scott.
Democrat Phil Ehr, a retired U.S. Navy commander who ran for Congress in 2020, is challenging Scott in the 2024 Senate race.
Scott, former Florida governor, was first elected in 2018 by beating Democrat Bill Nelson.
"A storm is brewing in Florida. For eight years, politicians like Rick Scott, DeSantis, Gaetz and Rubio have stood by Trump’s war on the truth," Ehr said in the video. They’re the axis of lies, spreading disinformation at all costs. They want to keep us confused, lost in the storm to hold onto power."
Even with Ehrs’ challenge, some Democrats were still pessimistic over their chances of defeating Scott and even tried to recruit NBA Hall of Famer and TNT basketball analyst Grant Hill and former Miami Heat Star Dwayne Wade to run for the Senate rats are struggling to find a candidate who can contest him.
“Well, I think why they’re having a hard time is, you know, I’ve had one Primary then three very hard Generals because I’ve gone through all the incumbents in office in the state, statewide Democrats,” Scott said. “So I think that they’re struggling to find somebody. They want somebody like Dwayne Wade to run against me.”
Democrats are also seeking to win seats held by Miami Republican Congress members Carlos Gimenez, former mayor of Miami-Dade County, and conservative Maria Elvira Salazar in 2024.
The Democratic Party is currently recruiting candidates to run against Republican State Reps. Bryan Avila (Miami Springs) and Tom Frabricio (Miramar).
The two candidates, so far, are running unopposed.
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