Fla. Dem. chairman says GOP shouldn’t get too comfortable despite their gains

The 2020 election showed us Florida voted red, but does this mean the Republican Party holds a tight grip on Florida?

Manny Diaz, the chair of the Florida Democratic Party, is unconvinced Republicans have a stronger foothold in the state.

Former President Donald Trump defeated President Joe Biden in Florida by more than three percentage points.

“2020 was an anomaly,” Diaz said. “We’re going to get our work done, so it doesn’t happen again.”

In Florida, the governor’s seat has been red for a quarter century.

“Gubernatorial races, they were all in that percent of 1%, sometimes less than 1%,” Diaz said.

Democrats have lost elections in Florida despite donors such as Mike Bloomberg spending approximately $100,000 in Florida.

“I have been spending a lot of time talking to a lot of those donors, not just out of state, but also in state,” Diaz said.

Diaz said Republicans shouldn’t get too comfortable in the Sunshine State. He’s making changes.

“Part of the problem the party has had in Florida is that we have never built a real sustainable, grassroots, statewide, year-round organization,” Diaz said.

That means places like Southwest Florida, even though predominately Republican, will start seeing more effort from the opposing party.

“Number one, there are democrats there that we should be pulling out to vote,” Diaz said. “Number two, there are many no party affiliates, there are so many Republicans that we can bring our way.

As for all the people who are moving to Florida in part because of the governor’s we are open policy, he said he’s not worried about that either.

Who will run in 2022 to oppose Gov. Ron DeSantis?

Diaz said he’s talking to a strong bench of candidates.

“If you have the right candidate, the right message and you’ve got the money, you can win,” Diaz said. “And I believe we do have that combination, those three factors.”