Report: Florida Democrats in ‘despair,’ have ‘no plan’

TALLAHASSEE (FLV) – After a red tsunami hit Florida in November, Democrats are in a state of “disorder” more than two months later.

The Washington Post said according to interviews with more than a dozen organizers, former lawmakers, donors and other leaders, Democrats in Florida have no clear plan for a leader, infrastructure, or consensus for rebuilding the party.

“The thing about Florida Democrats is we keep learning with every passing year that just when you thought you had hit bottom, you discover that there are new abysses to fall deeper and deeper into,” Fernand Amandi said, a veteran Democratic operative in the state. “There is no plan. There’s nothing. It’s just a state of suspended animation and chaos — and, more than anything, it’s the mournful regret and acceptance that Florida has been cast aside for the long, foreseeable future.”

To the disarray of Florida Democrats, Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Republican Party of Florida successfully flipped traditionally Democrat-heavy or Democrat-leaning counties across the Sunshine State, in some cases by double digit margins in 2022’s election.

President Joe Biden has said he plans to run for reelection in 2024 and Florida will most likely be a high priority for his campaign. The Washington Post said a Biden adviser described their strategy as Democrats look ahead to 2024, and said decisions about whether a reelection campaign would invest in Florida would be partly based on the Republican nominee.

In November, off the heels of the midterms, Former President Donald Trump announced his bid for president in 2024.

Currently, the U.S. Senators from Florida are by Rick Scott and Marco Rubio, both Republicans. Scott’s seat is up for election in 2024.

The last time Democrats won a Senate race was in 2012. There are no Democratic statewide officeholders, the first time since Reconstruction.

“There are really no Democrats in Florida who have money or are motivated,” John Morgan said, a major Democratic donor and trial lawyer in central Florida.

Democrats in the state say there’s no consolidated plan for how they are going to create a year-round operation that gets voters registered or helps them regain pertinence with Floridians. Many are calling for larger investments from donors, and a stronger field program.

Former Democrat Congresswoman Debbie Mucarsel-Powell said a lack of investment from Democratic donors helped pave the way for DeSantis to achieve national prominence and has given him “a clear path […] to be able to make a case for himself.”

Mucarsel-Powell foresaw a long road to recovery for Democrats.

“There’s going to be a lot of difficult work to rebuild trust in the party,” she said.

Weeks after Democrats saw sweeping losses following the midterms, Manny Diaz announced his resignation as chair of the Florida Democratic Party.

“We cannot win elections if we continue to rely on voter registration to drive turnout, build field operations only around elections and expect to get our vote out without engaging voters where they live,” Diaz wrote in his resignation letter.

Diaz wrote that many are losing sight of their mission to win elections and not arguments.

“People who win elections determine policy; those who lose go home. If we continue to divide the electorate on self-described ideology, or insist on messaging that appeal only to a very narrow sliver of the population, we will continue to lose,” he said.

When asked about Diaz’s resignation, DeSantis noted that this is the first time in 150 years a Democrat did not hold statewide office.

“I think they have a knee-jerk reaction anything I do,” DeSantis said. “And I think it’s put them in a corner, where they’re basically playing to the woke choir, which is a very small minority of people.”

Democrats are expected to elect a new state chair in a meeting on February 25. Former congressional candidate Annette Taddeo announced her bid to be the Florida Democratic Party’s next chair as well as Alex Berrios, co-founder of Mi Vecino. There is no clear successor.

Taddeo, who lost to Republican Maria Salazar in the 27th District by nearly 15 points, said the party is at a “critical juncture” and must “completely rebuild.”

Democrat State Rep. Anna Eskamani said the party is at the “bottom of the bottom.”

“We’re very much at the bottom of the bottom,” she said. “It doesn’t have to be this large-scale sexy program. It just has to be a program. Nothing’s going to happen overnight or in one election cycle, but we need to start building now.”

DeSantis’ landslide win reshaped Florida’s political landscape and is the largest win by a Republican governor in at least a century.

DeSantis defeated Democrat candidate Charlie Crist by nearly 20 points. He topped Jeb Bush’s 12.8 winning victory point from 2002, the last time a Florida gubernatorial candidate won the general election by double digits.

“The woke agenda has caused millions of Americans to leave these jurisdictions for greener pastures.” DeSantis said in his victory speech, referring to Americans that have fled their states and cities run by leftist politicians where “they’ve seen their taxpayers abused, they’ve seen medical authoritarianism imposed, and they’ve seen American principles discarded.”