Florida Democratic candidates have agreed to pool money together to create a $15 million voter organizing effort called ‘Blue Shift Florida,’ according to Politico, fighting to keep Florida a purple state. The money will be used to hire at least 200 organizers and open as many as 80 offices to increase voter turnout.
The latest voter registration numbers show that Republicans have a more than 111,000 edge over Democrats in a state with more than 14 million active registered voters. Despite the uphill battle, Florida Democratic Party Chair Manny Diaz remains optimistic. Diaz claims that ‘Blue Shift Florida’ is “the start of an ambitious, institutionalized year-round effort that he has been touting since he took the helm of the battered party soon after Democrats were routed across the state in the last election.
“We’ve been killed since 2000,” Diaz told POLITICO, citing the razor-tight presidential election were George W. Bush narrowly edged out former Vice President Al Gore. “It’s been a real mess. My mission — my push — from day one is that’s not going to happen again.”
Diaz also pointed back to the last midterm elections, where Gov. Ron DeSantis won by slightly more than 32,000 votes, and former Gov. Rick Scott defeated incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) in the U.S. Senate race by just over 10,000 votes. The overall goal would be to send Democratic organizers to all 67 counties to lessen the GOP margin even in Republican strongholds.
Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.), who is running for U.S. Senate against Republican incumbent Marco Rubio (R-FL), praised the effort, which will also receive contributions from the progressive outside group Florida Alliance.
“I’m proud to work hand-in-hand with Democrats throughout the state to build a bilingual, grassroots movement that will take back Florida,” said Demings in a statement. “We are fighting from the Panhandle to the Keys, leaving no community untouched and no voter behind in our fight to protect Florida’s families, protect constitutional rights, and elect people committed to that fight, up and down the ballot.”