Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis dubbed the Florida Democratic Party “the best opposition party we could ever ask for,” Wednesday as news emerged that the Republican Party of Florida had padded its lead among registered voters since DeSantis first ran in 2018.
DeSantis was commenting to reporters about the Republicans’ surprise success in Tuesday’s elections.
The state Democratic Party, led by Nikki Fried, the state’s former agriculture commissioner, scrapped its presidential primary because party leaders did not consider the opposition to President Joe Biden viable.
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Democratic turnout in local elections on Tuesday was low, resulting in Republican dominance in several mayoral races.
“The Florida Democratic Party is like the best opposition party we could ever ask for,” DeSantis told reporters in Miami Beach. “They canceled their Presidential Primary because they feared Biden may get embarrassed by not getting a high enough percentage.”
“That totally tanked their turnout, and that gave Republicans the ability to win—like the Delray Beach mayor, which has not exactly been solid Republican territory,” DeSantis added.
That referred to Tuesday’s win in Delray Beach by GOP-backed Tom Carney, who defeated Vice Mayor Ryan Bolston in a district that Biden won by almost 30 points in 2020.
Florida Democrats “have a real serious habit of just doing dumb things over and over again,” said DeSantis.
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The governor’s remarks came a day after the Tallahassee Democrat reported the latest outcome of the state’s massive swing to the GOP since DeSantis first took office.
“Republicans now hold the biggest advantage in voter registration either major party has held in almost four decades,” the newspaper reported. “State elections data through last month shows the GOP has just surpassed a major milestone. The party’s 851,417-voter lead marks the biggest gap between the parties in Florida since Democrats dominated by more than 854,000 votes in 1988.”
“The gulf, the paper added, “could make Florida an afterthought in this year’s presidential contest.”
DeSantis noted as much on Wednesday, telling the media Florida was “where you won’t see a lot of (campaigning) activity” during the 2024 presidential election.
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When DeSantis first ran in 2018, Democrats led Republicans by roughly 300,000.
In fact, unaffiliated voters are closer to surpassing the Democrats than the party on the left is to the GOP. The Democrats’ lead over the total of voters outside the Democrat-Republican binary is just 500,000.
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