Democrats are licking their wounds after getting shellacked in the 2024 Election.
The path to rebuilding the party as a national force is harder than they realized.
And Democrats got some awful news about Florida that left Ron DeSantis jumping for joy.
Democrats have massive problems in Florida going forward
Florida was the biggest swing state in the country for decades.
Both parties would fight tooth and nail to win the state in Presidential races because the victor typically won the election.
Florida began to shift right under President-elect Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
The 2024 Election cemented Florida as a solid red state after Democrats were routed up and down the ballot.
Trump carried the state by more than 13 points and flipped several major counties red including Miami-Dade.
His win came off DeSantis’ landslide victory in the 2022 Midterm Elections of nearly 20 points.
DeSantis said in 2023 the Florida Democrat Party was “basically a dead, rotten carcass on the side of the road.”
Florida Democrats are trying to pick up the pieces after getting wiped out in the state.
Population changes projected out could mean in the 2032 Election that the Republican Presidential candidate would not need to win a single Rust Belt swing state of Wisconsin, Michigan, or Pennsylvania to capture the White House.
Florida, Texas, and other red states are currently projected to gain Electoral Votes while California, New York, and other blue states would lose.
Florida Democrats worry the state is gone for decades
Democrats in Florida must dig themselves out of a deep hole.
Florida Democrat strategist Steve Schale warned his party needed to figure out a strategy fast.
“If you want to elect presidents from 2032 on, we have to start winning states that we are losing,” Schale stated.
Schale said that Democrats had to prioritize Florida and other Sun Belt states, or it would take a “crazy set of circumstances to win Congress or the presidency.”
Former Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink (D) was hopeful Democrats could make gains in the State Legislature to break Republican supermajorities.
“We needed to flip five seats and instead we ended up going backwards,” Sink said. “That part was really shocking.”
Florida Democrats’ woes only grew after the election.
Two Democrat State Representatives switched parties after the election to expand the Republican supermajority in the Florida State House.
Politico texted a prominent Florida Democrat asking what the party could do next and received an emoji of a coffin in response.
Veteran Florida Democrat consultant Beth Matuga said that it could take 25 years for Democrats to be competitive again.
“Everybody wants a fast, easy solution that makes everyone feel good,” Matuga said. “But the actual solution is slow, long-term, and sucks.”
Miami-based Democrat pollster Fernand Amandi warned that national Democrats would have to come in and help the state party.
“I don’t think this is a problem that unfortunately Florida Democrats can fix on their own,” Amandi said. “It will require the national party and national donors to look hard in the mirror and say, ‘We cannot afford as a party to sacrifice Florida.’”
Florida Democrats are looking at a longtime in the wilderness before they become a factor again.
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any developments to this ongoing story.
