Obama announces 2024 Democratic priorities – one prior swing state is missing
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Ohio, North Carolina, Texas and Montana are some of the major states on the Democrats’ list of “2024 electoral priorities” for local and down-ballot races.
One glaring, traditional “swing” state is missing from that list: Florida.
“This year, the [National Democratic Redistricting Committee] is investing in several state-level elections and backing candidates who are key to stopping anti-democratic agendas—including gerrymandering,” said former President Barack Obama. “I hope you’ll join me in supporting them.”
The list of Democratic targets also includes Arizona, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, North Carolina and Georgia.
The NDRC is focusing on “state-level and down-ballot races,” the group’s website states.
Florida was on the group’s list of targets for 2022.
“We are investing in races that are critical to the long-term fight for fairness,” the group said. “Being successful in these elections could help lay the foundation for an even fairer redistricting process in 2031.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ redistricting map ultimately proved to be strongly advantageous for Republicans, handing them a total of 20 seats out of 28 total. It was recently upheld in court, overcoming accusations of racial discrimination.
Florida, in 2022, was also witness to a massive red tsunami in down-ballot races; the Republicans won supermajorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
The Cabinet also went entirely Republican, the GOP’s only potential flip panning out with Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson winning the seat formerly held by Nikki Fried, who is now the Florida Democratic Party chair.
Obama’s push for such electoral priorities come just hours after Emerson College released a poll suggesting Florida is a double-digit race in favor of former President Donald Trump over President Joe Biden.
It also found that Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott is slated to defeat Democratic challenger Debbie Mucarsel-Powell by around 7%, and that the abortion ballot initiative has a tough road ahead toward the 60% necessary for passage.
After abortion made the ballot as a result of a Supreme Court of Florida ruling, the Florida Democratic Party and Biden’s campaign swiftly came out saying the state is “winnable.”
“Man, @JoeBiden has a different definition of winnable than I do,” said Republican Party of Florida Chairman Evan Power in response to the Emerson poll.
The GOP registration lead is now nearing 900,000 voters over Democrats as of mid-April.
For comparison, in 2020, the state was just a 3-point victory for Trump.
In 2018, both DeSantis and Scott very narrowly won their races: DeSantis by 0.4% and Scott by 0.2%.
