The last time Democrats won a presidential election in Florida was 2012, when Barack Obama narrowly defeated GOP candidate Mitt Romney 50% to 49%.

But with Vice President Kamala Harris topping the ticket this year, the Florida Democratic Party thinks it can help her win the White House and also flip Sen. Rick Scott’s seat from red to blue.

What You Need To Know

  • With Vice President Kamala Harris topping the Democratic ticket for president this year, the Florida Democratic Party is bullish on her chances in the state

  • Since the Democratic National Convention last week, the Florida Democratic Party boasted that it has signed up 13,000 volunteers, bringing the total to more than 40,000

  • Recent polls have shown a narrowing race in the state, and Florida has two high-profile initiatives on the ballot in November: One that would protect abortion rights, and another that would legalize recreational cannabis

  • But Florida has only shifted more rightward in recent years; Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who narrowly won victory in 2018 by less than half a percentage point, was reelected two years ago by more than 19 points

“What we are seeing here is unprecedented levels of enthusiasm, and now it is our job to turn that energy into action,” Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried said Tuesday during a press conference about the state of play in Florida ten weeks before Election Day.

Since the Democratic National Convention last week cementing Harris’s position as the party’s presidential nominee, Fried said Florida had added 13,000 new volunteers. So far this year, the party’s more than 40,000 volunteers have knocked on 1.2 million doors and made 2.1 million calls — numbers they are hoping to multiply before Election Day.

“We will never be outworked,” Fried said. While acknowledging that Republicans in the state have raised more money, “no amount of money can buy you this kind of grassroots momentum because money doesn’t win elections,” she said. “People do.”

Florida Democrats have their work cut out for them: The latest polling average in Florida shows Trump leading Harris 47.8% to 43.8%. Trump beat Hillary Clinton in Florida in 2016, 48.6% to 47.4%. He won by an even larger margin in 2020, defeating President Biden 51.2% to 47.9%. And in 2022's gubernatorial race, Gov. Ron DeSantis won reelection by more than 19% points, boosting Republicans statewide in the midterms.

But recent polls have shown a narrowing race in the state, and Florida has two high-profile initiatives on the ballot in November that could boost Democrats' chances: One that would protect abortion rights, and another that would legalize recreational cannabis. 

Fried said Democratic enthusiasm in Florida following last week’s primary has “Trump scared of losing our state," noting that Trump aired his first ad in the state just this week. “We’re making him defend a state that he never thought that he would have to.”

Saying Floridians have been “lab rats for Project 2025,” with state policies to restrict abortion and ban books that could go national if Trump is reelected, Nikki said the Florida Democratic Party is reaching out not only to Democrats but moderate Republicans and Independents.

“We all know what’s at stake this November, and that’s why we are going to make sure that we protect our freedoms,” said Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, a Latina immigrant whose first job in the U.S. was making minimum wage at a donut shop and who made history in last week’s Florida state primary when she became the first Latina to run at the top of the ticket for U.S. Senate. 

DMP, as she is known, is hoping to defeat Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., who was first elected to Congress in 2018 after serving two terms as Florida’s governor. 

“We are not going to allow frauds like Rick Scott to rob our freedoms, our economic security and the opportunities for our children, because that’s exactly what he intends to do if he gets back to the Senate,” Mucarsel-Powell said. “Let’s remember that he wrote the preamble for Project 2025, which included sunsetting Medicare, Social Security and raising taxes for middle class families, which would put 40% of Florida’s seniors into poverty.”

Democrats in the state are hoping to leverage Scott’s unpopularity. According to a poll from USA Today and Suffolk University earlier this month, 35% of Floridians have a favorable opinion of Scott compared with 49% who view him unfavorably. Scott won his seat in 2018 by 0.12%, or 10,000 votes. He is currently up 3% over Mucarsel-Powell.

Of the 13,000 new volunteers for the Florida Democratic Party who signed up this past week, two-thirds are women, according to Harris-Walz for Florida State Director Jasmine Burney-Clark. Six percent of the party’s 40,000 volunteers are Republicans, according to the party chair, who earlier Tuesday met with the leaders of Republicans for Harris.

“Their involvement is a powerful statement against the extreme policies threatening their rights, especially the near total abortion ban enacted here just a few months ago,” Burney-Clark said. 

The state's abortion restriction, which bans the procedure after six weeks with some exceptions for rape, incest, human trafficking and the life of the mother, went into effect in May.

“We’re reaching out to every voter, and we mean every voter, ensuring Floridians know Vice President Harris is fighting for reproductive freedom, lowering health care costs, affordable housing and safer communities,” Burney-Clark said. “We are all united by a common goal, and that is to elect leaders who uphold the values of freedom, equality and opportunity for all.”

The Harris-Walz campaign, she said, “is more than just an election. It’s a movement for the future of our country and the state of Florida.”