Florida Democrats claimed a "resurgence." Voters said otherwise
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The Florida Democratic Party (FDP) and its chair, Nikki Fried, puffed in speeches and in tweets that the Sunshine State was "in play" this year.
- It wasn't even close.
Why it matters: Florida Democrats fielded candidates in all congressional and legislative races on the ballot — a feat that hadn't happened in decades — yet still ended up with fewer seats than last cycle.
- Party stakeholders told Axios in July that Fried's FDP leadership had resulted mostly in cosmetic changes, and the results of this election do little to suggest otherwise.
Fried did not respond to questions from Axios on Wednesday.
Driving the news: We asked Fried in April for a yardstick to gauge her success as chair — outcomes in Tuesday's results that would provide evidence of the "clear resurgence" she said the FDP had undergone.
- None came to fruition.
Scorecard: She wanted to break the party's super-minority in the Florida House (No); reclaim state Senate District 3 (No); reelect the party's 56 incumbents (No); and pass Amendment 4 (No).
- Instead, Florida Democrats lost hundreds of thousands of active registered voters, lagged Republicans in cash and turnout and watched as once-blue strongholds went red.
The big picture: National donors have all but deserted the FDP, and Florida's battleground status appears lost for the foreseeable future.
- Florida Democrats hold eight of 28 congressional seats; have super minorities in both chambers of the state Legislature; and lost a heap of constitutional offices in Hillsborough, Pinellas and Miami-Dade counties.
- Florida became the first state since the Dobbs decision where abortion rights appeared on the ballot and lost — and Democrats raked in no significant benefit in turnout or funds from having it on there.
The intrigue: Party insiders sounded the alarm months ago.
- Axios interviewed over a dozen people who work for or with the FDP — and almost all said Fried's prioritization of marketing over voter registration was misguided.
The bottom line: The road to relevance for Florida Democrats is a long one.