JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Florida Democrats kicked off a statewide bus tour Wednesday.
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The effort is aimed at cutting into Republicans’ voter registration advantage ahead of the 2024 election.
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Florida Democrats are committing to spend $1 million on the registration campaign, which will make stops in 18 cities over the coming weeks.
“The country knows that we are the last stand, and we are going to make it, and we are going to win,” Nikki Fried, Chair of the Democratic Party of Florida said.
In 2017, Florida Democrats outnumbered Republicans by more than 260,000.
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Republicans chipped away at that lead over the following years and currently outnumber Democrats by more than 540,000 voters.
Democrats hope to cut that lead by 35 percent over the next three months, but Christian Ziegler, Chair of the Republican Party of Florida, pointed out a similar effort a few years back didn’t go so well.
“They were in the advantage at that point to Republicans, and they went from 246,000 more Democrats down to 134,000 more Democrats than Republicans. So, they committed $2 million, and they actually lost ground,” Ziegler said.
But State Representative Anna Eskamani (D-Orlando) argued you only have to look as far as Jacksonville’s past mayoral race for evidence Democrats can still compete in Florida.
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“And it’s also a reflection of how so many Florida voters, they’re tired of the partisan bickering, they’re tired of the culture wars,” Eskamani said.
She said part of the strategy moving forward will include visiting areas not traditionally considered Democratic strongholds.
“I mean even in the Villages there are large populations of Democratic voters. There are rural Democrats as well. So, it’s important not to leave any part of the state behind,” Eskamani said.
UNF political science professor Sean Freeder noted the stakes are high for Democrats, after suffering stinging defeats in the past two election cycles.
“This is kind of a moment to put your foot down in the ground and try and make a stand because it’s going to get harder every election after this if it doesn’t start changing in a positive direction,” Freeder said.
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And Ziegler promised Republicans don’t intend to lose the momentum they’ve spent the past seven years building.
“I believe our way works and I think I have the receipts to prove it if you look at the voter registration numbers. So, we’re going to continue to do that. Voter registration is a big focus of ours,” Ziegler said.
The bus tour is expected to make its way to Duval County in about two weeks.
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Only time will tell if Democrats’ efforts payoff.
