MIAMI — Democratic Party Chair Jamie Harrison is optimistic about the Sunshine State, despite the state’s electoral votes going to Republicans in the last two presidential elections
“Florida is in play,” he said. “Florida, Florida, Florida.”
CBS News Miami asked Harrison why he believes Florida in play for 2024.
“Well I think there’s so many dynamics,” he said. “I talked about this earlier. Again, for the first time in 30 years, you have Democrats running in every seat in the State House, the State Senate and [at] the congressional level.”
Both Miami-Dade and Broward Counties went for then-former Vice President Joe Biden in 2020. However, former President Donald Trump won the state by about three percentage points that year.
Voter registration data shows more than a million more registered Republicans in Florida than Democrats this year. But, there are also 3.5 million unaffiliated voters in the state, according to data from the Florida Department of State’s website.
Harrison said there’s a different playing field compared to 2020.
“Because of COVID, Democrats weren’t able to put a field operation on the ground to knock on doors to communicate with voters,” he said.
Locally, Lucia Baez-Geller is challenging Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar in the House, and former Representative Debbie Mucarsel-Powell is trying to unseat Senator Rick Scott.
If you follow the money In the Senate race, republicans are outspending Democrats on ads 4 to 1, according to AdImpact, which tracks spending on campaigns. CBS News Miami asked Harrison if Florida could be in play despite being outspent.
“Well, I think you will see a surge of resources coming in,” he said. “I’ve just done a few tweets a few tweets over the last few days for Debbie and we’re seeing money coming in.”
And just about a week after an apparent second assassination attempt on Trump, Harrison hopes the tension can cool down as we reach the final laps of the election season.
“We have to turn it down on an individual basis,” he said. “And it’s sad to see the attempts. And, I know that there have been threats to vice president Harris. There have been threats to President Biden in the past. There have been threats to President Obama in the past. This violence has to end.”
Florida Republican Party Chair Evan Power responded to Harrison’s talking points in a statement:
“The Democrats can say whatever they want, but here are the facts: Florida Republicans have out-registered, out-raised, and out-worked the Florida Democrats. Anyone telling you Florida is in play for Democrats should not be taken seriously,” Power said.
The last time Florida went blue in a presidential election was for then-Senator Barack Obama in 2012, when he won by just about a percentage point.
