Democrats have backed off in Florida, effectively ceding the state to popular Gov. Ron DeSantis, Politico reported.
The Democrat Governors Association (DGA), a major financial establishment which hands out millions to Democratic governor candidates across the country, has no plans to substantially aid candidates in Florida, effectively handing the state to DeSantis.
In Florida’s last two gubernatorial cycles, the DGA has flooded the state with over $15 million. The DGA’s decision this time around indicated they have little confidence in the ability to win in a statewide election in Florida, and would prefer to aid incumbent Democrats in other states.
Political consultants emphasized that the general trends, indicated by Democrats’ losses in Virginia, point towards a defensive stance for the party in the 2022 midterms.
“I do think, and I can’t stress this enough, the DGA is playing mostly defense this year, and that’s a monumental change,” said Jonathan Ducote, a veteran Democratic consultant who has worked with the group.
“When I think about Florida statewide elections,” he said, “the number one thing you have to ask yourself is do you have the money to communicate in a really expensive state?”
A DGA employee confirmed that the organization would spend little money in the former swing state.
“DeSantis is looking strong politically and financially, and there are states like Massachusetts, Maryland and Arizona where they see potential pickups on top of incumbent protection,” he said, before adding that Democrats “are not going the way they have been in the past. There are not going to be multi-million-dollar checks.”
Of course, DGA communications director Sam Newton denied plans to give ground in the state, suggesting that DeSantis has harmed the people by “playing political games with COVID-19, and even slamming local counties and schools with fines just for implementing their own common sense mask and vaccine measures.”
Those are measures, of course, which have been well received by Floridians, providing a more likely reason for why the DGA is running scared against the state’s popular governor.
