{"id":1841762,"date":"2023-02-10T06:50:06","date_gmt":"2023-02-10T11:50:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1841762"},"modified":"2023-02-10T06:51:00","modified_gmt":"2023-02-10T11:51:00","slug":"florida-democrats-face-uphill-political-battle-ahead-of-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/florida-democrats-face-uphill-political-battle-ahead-of-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida Democrats Face Uphill Political Battle Ahead of 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fflorida-democrats-face-uphill-political-battle-ahead-of-2024%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1841762&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47-->\n<p><em>News Analysis<\/em><\/p>\n<p>After the 2022 midterm election results, the Republican victory in the Sunshine State was a huge success. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-florida\">Florida<\/a> Democrats struggle to keep their political relevance going into the 2024 presidential election.<\/p>\n<p>Florida was the nation&#8217;s largest swing state and the most unpredictable for many decades. It twice placed first in the presidential election.\u00a0<span class=\"person-popover\">George W. Bush\u00a0<\/span>Barack Obama did the same thing at the White House. George Will, columnist and political commentator suggested in 2019 it would be difficult to find 270 electoral vote paths for any presidential candidate without Florida.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFlorida is incomparably the most important swing state in the country,\u201d Will made an appearance on \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/wusfnews.wusf.usf.edu\/2019-11-01\/george-will-florida-is-incomparably-the-most-important-swing-state\">The Florida Roundup<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But this was before the Republican sweep of 2022, when the Sunshine State turned solid red. Democrats lost every statewide election on the ballot.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4685823\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Charlie-Crist-GettyImages-1242677413-1200x800-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy wp-image-4685823 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/themes\/eet\/images\/white.png\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Charlie-Crist-GettyImages-1242677413-1200x800-1.jpg\" alt=\"Florida Gubernatorial candidate Rep. Charlie Crist\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\"   style=\"display:none\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4685823 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Charlie-Crist-GettyImages-1242677413-1200x800-1.jpg\" alt=\"Florida Gubernatorial candidate Rep. Charlie Crist\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> Florida Gubernatorial candidate Rep. Charlie Crist gives a victory talk after defeating Commissioner for Agriculture Nikki Fried at the Democrat primary at Hilton St. Petersburg Bayfront in St. Petersburg on Aug. 23, 2022. (Octavio Jones\/Getty Images)<\/figure>\n<h2>The 2022 Midterms<\/h2>\n<p>With the exception of the\u00a02018 race for Commissioner of Agriculture\u2014in which Democrat\u00a0Nikki Fried defeated Republican Matt Caldwell by a narrow margin of 50.04 to 49.96 percent\u2014Democrats haven\u2019t won a statewide election in Florida since 2012.<\/p>\n<p>Fried gave up his seat in order to run for the Democrat gubernatorial nomination to challenge incumbent Gov. Ron DeSantis. She was defeated by Charlie Crist (the U.S. Representative at the time). With that victory, Crist\u2014who had defeated Republican challenger Anna Paulina Luna in the 2020 election to represent\u00a0Florida\u2019s 13th Congressional District\u2014resigned his congressional seat.<\/p>\n<p>The Democrat challenger for Crist\u2019s vacant seat,\u00a0Eric Lynn, was subsequently defeated by\u00a0Luna in the 2022 midterms.<\/p>\n<p>But DeSantis was reelected by almost 20 points, and several school boards\u00a0flipped from majority Democrat to majority Republican, including in Miami-Dade County, which is now the largest school district in the country with a conservative-majority board.<\/p>\n<p>Republicans now hold super-majorities in both houses of Florida\u2019s Legislature, and with Fried gone, there\u2019s not a single Democrat who holds a statewide office.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4972528\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/matt-gaetz-1200x845-1.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy wp-image-4972528 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/themes\/eet\/images\/white.png\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/matt-gaetz-1200x845-1.jpeg\" alt=\"Epoch Times Photo\" width=\"640\" height=\"451\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4972528 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/matt-gaetz-1200x845-1.jpeg\" alt=\"Epoch Times Photo\" width=\"640\" height=\"451\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., flexes along with Rep.-elect Anna Paulina Luna. This was after he got into an argument at the House Chamber during the fourth-day of elections for Speaker in the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington. It took place on Jan. 6, 2023. (Win McNamee\/Getty Images)<\/figure>\n<p>In one of the most unexpected upsets, Democrat state Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith\u2014who was seeking a fourth term in the Florida House of Representatives for the solid blue 49th District\u2014lost to Republican challenger Susan Plasencia, who attacked what she described as Smith\u2019s \u201cwokeism.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe problem with\u00a0Carlos Guillermo Smith is he was going down the path of ultra-wokeness,\u201d John Dowless, the mayor of Edgewood in Orange County and a Republican consultant for Plasencia\u2019s campaign, told The Epoch Times. \u201cIt was an ultra-woke ideology that most people don\u2019t agree with. I think most people agree that everyone should have equal opportunity, including those in the LGBTQ community. But he was taking it beyond that, and I think he hung his hat on the Parental Rights bill and went after it with vengeance. He may even be the one who coined the phrase \u2018Don\u2019t Say Gay.\u2019 That\u2019s not what the bill said at all. It says stop sexualizing our children.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Florida\u2019s Democrat Party also has no leader. Manny Diaz, who was defeated in 2022, has been elected the leader of Florida&#8217;s Democrat Party.\u00a0<a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/states\/florida\/story\/2021\/01\/09\/florida-democrats-turn-to-former-miami-mayor-manny-diaz-to-resurrect-party-1354268\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">former mayor of Miami who vowed to rebuild Florida\u2019s Democrat Party<\/a>,\u00a0resigned as party chair.<\/p>\n<p>In a five-page letter, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.orlandoweekly.com\/news\/florida-democratic-party-chair-manny-diaz-denies-that-florida-is-now-a-red-state-and-resigns-33306848\">Diaz blamed the party\u2019s poor ground game<\/a> And a \u201clong standing, systemic and deeply entrenched culture resistant to change\u201d Which\u00a0\u201cindividual agendas are more important than team; where self-interest dominates and bureaucracies focus on self-preservation.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5045922\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2023\/02\/09\/Dowless.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy wp-image-5045922 size-medium_vertical\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/themes\/eet\/images\/white.png\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Dowless-276x350-1.jpg\" alt=\"John Dowless,\u00a0Mayor of Edgewood in Orange County and Republican consultant.\" width=\"276\" height=\"350\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-5045922 size-medium_vertical\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Dowless-276x350-1.jpg\" alt=\"John Dowless,\u00a0Mayor of Edgewood in Orange County and Republican consultant.\" width=\"276\" height=\"350\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> John Dowless,\u00a0Mayor of Edgewood in Orange County and Republican consultant. (Courtesy John Dowless<\/figure>\n<h2>Looking ahead<\/h2>\n<p>Heading toward 2024, Dowless said he believes Florida\u2019s Democrats will continue their struggle while ignoring why Republicans have been so successful.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI honestly think that the Democratic Party\u2019s leadership has abandoned their base in the Sunshine State, at least in Miami-Dade, where Hispanic, family-oriented voters live,\u201d Dowless told The Epoch Times, noting the party\u2019s disconnect in trying to force its agenda on Florida\u2019s children. \u201cThey don\u2019t understand, you don\u2019t mess with mama bear and her kids.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dowless attributed DeSantis\u2019 political success\u2014a decisive reelection victory and growing support for a 2024 presidential run\u2014to his determination to protect parental rights and to maintain Florida\u2019s position as the \u201cplace where woke comes to die.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe states that are losing populations are being run by Democratic governors,\u201d Dowless stated. \u201cBut their pride gets in the way of reason and instead of watching and learning, I think they\u2019re dismissing and trying to diminish the work of DeSantis and conservatism.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dowless also pointed out that Florida was named the a href=&#8221;https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/florida-ranked-fastest-growing-state-in-america-us-census-bureau_4947175.html&#8221;>fastest-growing State<\/a> The nation.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4853517\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/DeSantis-1244624628-1200x746-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy wp-image-4853517 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/themes\/eet\/images\/white.png\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/DeSantis-1244624628-1200x746-1.jpg\" alt=\"Epoch Times Photo\" width=\"640\" height=\"398\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4853517 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/DeSantis-1244624628-1200x746-1.jpg\" alt=\"Epoch Times Photo\" width=\"640\" height=\"398\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is seen onstage at an election night watch party held at the Convention Center, Tampa, Fla. on Nov. 8, 2022. (Giorgio Viera\/AFP via Getty Images).<\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve always been growing because of our weather,\u201d He said. \u201cBut when we\u2019re the fastest-growing state in the nation you know it\u2019s gone past weather. In my opinion, there\u2019s only one logical answer and that is DeSantis\u2019 leadership through COVID.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dowless expressed his dismay at the refusal of leaders from other states to listen to constituents and refuse to stand against them \u201cwoke mob\u201d To protect their children, freedoms, businesses, and jobs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt absolutely polarized our leaders in ways I was sad to see,\u201d Dowless lamented. \u201cBut it definitely showed the true colors of some of our country\u2019s leaders whether they will support freedom or whether they are going to use fear to force certain ideologies on the voters, and I think that\u2019s what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe reason why people want to live in Florida has a lot to do with DeSantis\u2019 leadership,\u201d Dowless stated. \u201cWe\u2019re already the third most populous state. For us to take over the lead in new residents is huge.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>DeSantis announced a social media announcement on February 7, 2017.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn 2018, Democrats outnumbered Republicans by nearly 300,000,\u201d he wrote on Twitter,\u00a0adding that Republicans outnumbered Democrats by 300,000 by\u00a0Election Day in 2022.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToday we can announce that Republicans outnumber Democrats by 400,000. Freedom is here to stay.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>News Analysis After the 2022 midterm election results, the Republican victory in the Sunshine State was a huge success. Florida Democrats struggle to keep their political relevance going into the 2024 presidential election. Florida was the nation&#8217;s largest swing state and the most unpredictable for many decades. It twice placed first in the presidential election.\u00a0George &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1841765,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[547],"tags":[4506,6731,3685,5113,3753,18248],"class_list":["post-1841762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-bongino-report","tag-4506","tag-battle","tag-democrats","tag-florida","tag-political","tag-uphill"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1841762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1841762"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1841762\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1841765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1841762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1841762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1841762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}