By Roger Caldwell
As Republicans in Florida call themselves, the United States of Florida, and the Democrats call them-selves Democratic Socialists. Things are changing in Florida, and more Hispanics are starting to support Ex-President Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis.
“After shellacking in 2022 that saw GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sen. Marco Rubio defeat their challengers by 19 and 16 points, respectively, Democrats are hoping to get off the mat next year. But Democrats ‘ attitude in the Sunshine State is gloomy heading into 2024 after years of missteps , donor disinterest and a decimated bench, and any revitalization won’t right the ship before the general election,” says Tal Axelrod of ABC News.
The Democrats are in bad shape, and the polls for Black people in Florida are going in the wrong direction. In 2018 Ex-Mayor of Tallahassee Andrew Gillum ran for Governor of Florida and lost by 3,500 votes. The Black and people of color were excited, and it appeared there were more young Democrats at the polls than ever before.
But once the Democrats lost the election in 2018, many Hispanics became Republicans supporting Trump and DeSantis as a red state. Many now consider Florida a red state, and there are more Republicans on the polls. Florida has slipped out of the Democrats hands, and the Hispanics are the new largest group of voters.
Black voters have slipped into silence and the state is no longer a swing state. All around the state, the governor has gerrymandered the maps, and there are more seats for Republicans. Not only are there more red seats in the legislature, there are more red seats in the local and city elections.
The Republicans are also leading the Democrats by $170 million in fundraising across the state, in the last elections. It appears that the Democrats are not really competing against the Republicans, because there are only a few good Democrats on the bench. The Democrats don’t have a strong message, and they are calling themselves, “democratic socialist.”
This upsets many Hispanics in Miami, who are Cuban and Venezuelan, who fled socialist countries, and communist countries. In 1979, Carlos Campos came to America from Venezuela and did not get involved in American politics until 2016. Campos realized his values aligned closely with Republicans.
Campos wants stricter border policy, US not doing enough to keep out criminals, and everyone should enter the country legally. He wants a smaller government, and a stronger military, and the Democrats are endangering fundamental rights to bear arms, and to take advantage of free speech. This is the new groups of Hispanics that are supporting the Republicans, and flipped the traditional Blue Miami-Dade County to red.
Somewhere the question must be asked, where is the Black vote in Florida?
The majority of Blacks in Florida are in the Florida Democratic Party. The Florida Democratic Party has been infighting, and there have been five different chairs since 2016. The national Democratic Party has not given Florida candidates much funding, and the Blacks are not engaged in campaigning with no money.
If Florida is not a red state, the Democrats, Blacks and people of color are not competing in the campaigns. If Blacks and people of color cannot get the 18 to 30 years old to vote, we cannot win. There must be collaboration with the Black media, the Hispanic media, the politicians and businesses.
Florida can become a red state if the Democrats give up. There is still time for the Florida Democratic Party to come together, and build a diverse movement to take back the state.
