Why Team Biden hasn’t given up on Florida for 2024

Although Democrats generally performed much better than expected in the 2022 midterms, Florida was the one state where the red wave that Fox News pundits were predicting really did materialize. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis campaigned from the far right and was reelected by 19 percent; Sen. Marco Rubio, another Republican, defeated Democratic challenger Val Demings by 16 percent.

There was plenty of good news for Democrats in key swing states like Pennsylvania, Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin, all of which found them winning gubernatorial races. Centrist Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly was reelected in deep red Kansas, and even though Democrats narrowly lost the U.S. House of Representatives, they slightly increased their effective majority in the U.S. Senate when Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia was reelected. But the midterms brought Democrats plenty of bad news in Florida, which some Democratic strategists believe is no longer a swing state, but a full-fledged red state that now has 30 electoral votes.

In an article published by Politico on February 9, however, journalist Gary Fineout reports that Team Biden hasn’t given up on Florida for 2024 and has a game plan for making the Sunshine State competitive for Democrats again. President Joe Biden and his allies, Fineout notes, are feeling energized after the president’s 2023 State of the Union address.

Fineout reports, “President Joe Biden is swinging into Florida on Thursday, and he’s bringing more than just talking points. Fresh off his State of the Union address, Biden will be giving beleaguered Florida Democrats a glimmer of hope that the rest of the party hasn’t written off the nation’s third most populous state after a crushing midterm.”

Florida Democrats who were glad to hear that Biden planned to visit their state on Thursday, February 9, according to Fineout, include Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (former chair of the Democratic National Committee) and Rep. Debbie Castor.

Schultz told Politico, “It’s very clear to me he can win the state of Florida, and it’s very clear to the White House. They are coming down to underscore what they accomplished and how they can build on it.”

Castor told Politico she “cheered” upon learning of Biden’s visit, saying, “That means they are going to continue to invest in Florida. They have not given up. To the contrary, they are going to fight.”

Fineout observes that Democratic strategists and organizers view the 2022 midterms as a “nearly existential crisis for Florida Democrats.”

“Not only did DeSantis get reelected by nearly 20 points, but Republicans gained a supermajority in the Florida Legislature and picked up four congressional seats that helped flip the U.S. House to the GOP,” Fineout notes. “It remains unclear where DeSantis will be Thursday during Biden’s visit since the governor routinely announces his schedule just hours before his events. Key to the GOP wins last year was that Republican turnout was significantly higher than Democratic turnout — a nod to the drawing power of DeSantis, whose battles over race, gender and COVID-19 have made him a rising star among conservatives.”

Florida is known for having a lot of senior residents, many of whom are reliant on Social Security and Medicare. And part of Team Biden’s game plan for the Sunshine State, according to Fineout, could include stressing that those programs are under attack by Republicans — including Sen. Rick Scott of Florida.

“One of the most talked about moments from Biden’s Tuesday night speech came when Biden said some Republicans were threatening to sunset Social Security and Medicare — a reference to a plan released by Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott last year but which most Republicans have rejected,” Fineout reports. “Scott’s plan did call for taking a vote on all federal programs every five years, but he has insisted he would never back the elimination of Social Security. Biden cited Scott’s plan directly during his stop in Wisconsin, where he pulled out a copy of Scott’s Rescue America plan.”