Democrats have been itching for a fight since Kamala Harris became their Presidential nominee.
They have visions of a landslide victory in November.
And Donald Trump was grinning from ear to ear over this bad news for Florida Democrats.
Democrats are hoping to put Florida in play
The entrance of Vice President Kamala Harris into the Presidential race resulted in a surge of enthusiasm for Democrats.
Democrats began to dream big about using the excitement in the party about her campaign to put new states into the play for the election.
Florida was the biggest swing state in the country for decades and the winner of the state almost always won the Presidential election.
The 2020 Election is the only time this century that the winner of Florida did not win the election.
Florida State Senator Shevrin Jones (D-FL), the chairman of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party, asked the national party to pour money into the Sunshine State at the Democratic National Convention.
“My message is going to be clear when it comes to Florida: that people here are yearning to get involved, but we have to make sure that Democrats are giving them the tools they need and putting in the resources to succeed,” Jones said.
The Florida Democratic Party is touting its voter contacts through phone calls and door-knocking to sell the idea that the political winds are starting to shift in the state.
“With the work we have been doing and the grassroots momentum, Florida is competitive in 2024,” Florida Democratic Party Communications Director Eden Giagnorio told NBC News. “Now imagine what we could achieve with real investment.”
Follow the money in politics
Democrats are talking a big game about putting Florida in play this November.
But they are not putting their money where their mouth is on ad spending.
The Presidential candidates spending money in a state is a sign that it is competitive.
A total of $57 million was spent on TV ads in Florida during September alone in the 2020 Election by President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.
Only $2.1 million has been spent on TV ads for the Presidential election during the entire 2024 Election cycle.
“The decrease in spending mirrors the election ratings provided by Cook Political Report, indicating that the statewide races were no longer as competitive as they had been in the past,” an AdImpact report on Florida’s decline from 2020 to 2024 political ad spending found. AdImpact is an advertising intelligence and analytics firm.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis told a gathering of Republicans at the Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Florida that they could rest easy on Election Night.
“Are you happy we are a solid Republican state? It used to be …presidential elections, we would be on a razor’s edge about the state of Florida,” DeSantis said. “Because if Republicans could not win the state of Florida, then you did not have a path to win the Electoral College.”
Florida has shifted to the Right beginning with the 2016 Election.
Republicans in the state have one million more registered voters in the state than Democrats.
Trump senior adviser Danielle Alvarez told NBC News that Florida is “Trump country.”
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this ongoing story.
