‘A new day for Florida Democrats’: Party leaders project optimism at Miami Beach gathering

Florida Democrats are huddling in Miami Beach for their annual conference as they look to stage a comeback after a slew of recent electoral disappointments that left the state party on the brink of political irrelevance.

The three-day “Leadership Blue” weekend has been billed by top Florida Democrats, including state party Chair Nikki Fried, as a reset for the party. State Democratic leaders and activists spent Saturday shuffling in and out of workshops and seminars, strategizing what they hope will be a political comeback in 2024.

Democrats have struggled for years to recreate the same kind of success that they saw in Florida just over a decade ago when former President Barack Obama won the state for a second time in a row. The 2022 midterm elections were particularly devastating for the party; Gov. Ron DeSantis won reelection by a staggering 19-percentage point margin, Republicans secured supermajorities in both chambers of the state legislature and Democrats found themselves frozen out of every statewide elected office.

Yet prominent Democrats say it’s too soon to write Florida off. While they concede that the past couple of election cycles were politically devastating for Democrats, they say that they’ve learned the lessons of the past and are ready to revamp the party ahead of 2024.

READ MORE: At annual gala, Florida Democrats look to unify around a common adversary: Ron DeSantis

Fried said that the conference was a chance for Democrats to show “that this truly is a new day for Florida Democrats.”

“We’ve got 22 million people here in our state, one of the most diverse states in the nation, talking about issues that actually are important to people on the ground,” Fried said. “And unfortunately the radicalization of the Republican party under Gov. DeSantis has taken our state to such an extreme that we are ready for this pendulum to swing back.”

Former Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, who lost reelection to her South Florida U.S. House district in 2020 to Republican Rep. Carlos Gimenez, acknowledged that Democrats have had a rough few years in Florida, but suggested that the political pendulum may be starting to swing back in her party’s direction.

In an effort to bring some celebrity into the weekend, Florida Democrats booked actor Bradley Whitford as their keynote speaker for their Saturday evening fundraising gala. Whitford, who’s played roles in shows like “The West Wing” and “The Handmaid’s Tale,” said that Florida Democrats are “on the front lines” in the fight against conservative policies, like those pushed by DeSantis.

“I think the Florida Democrats are in a really unique position and are actually on the front lines with a tremendous opportunity to stop this madness,” he said. “Florida isn’t free when women don’t have the right to choose. Florida isn’t free when vulnerable communities are being targeted. Florida isn’t free when you’re making it easier to get guns into the hands of criminals. Florida isn’t free when you’ve got a governor who’s making it harder to vote.”

Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava acknowledged that Democrats still face a tough fight ahead in Florida, but said that the three-day conference offered the party a chance to “set the tone for 2024.”

“The challenges we face truly are great. But so is our determination to overcome all of these challenges,” she said. “It is truly a new day for Democrats here in Florida.”