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The bright red turning of a once purple state had consultants revealing the lengths it would take to make Democrats competitive there again — perhaps in 25 years.

A leadership vacuum wasn’t the only problem facing the Democratic Party after Vice President Kamala Harris’ Election Night loss to President-elect Donald Trump. After the blue wall faltered, strategists from the Sunshine State were opening up about their concern for future elections if serious capital wasn’t injected into Florida.

“Everybody wants a fast, easy solution that makes everyone feel good. But the actual solution is slow, long-term, and sucks,” said Florida Democratic consultant Beth Matuga to Politico as she asserted it could take as much as 25 years for her party to put up a considerable challenge in the Freedom State.

“If you want to elect presidents from 2032 on, we have to start winning states that we’re losing,” insisted Democratic strategist Steve Schale who previously helped with both of former President Barack Obama’s Florida victories.

Beyond investments in southern states, the strategist who maintained that President Joe Biden ought to have stayed in the race after his disastrous debate performance, suggested it would take a “crazy set of circumstances to win Congress or the presidency.”

Politico summed it up, “If national Democrats ignore the trends in Florida then they may very well be writing their own obituary, party strategists in the state say.”

Maintaining a supermajority in the state legislature wasn’t the only accomplishment for the Florida GOP in 2024 as, under the leadership of Gov. Ron DeSantis, the balance of voter registrations dramatically shifted more than 1.2 million voters toward the favor of the Republican Party.

“I don’t think this is a problem that unfortunately Florida Democrats can fix on their own,” argued Miami-based Democratic pollster Fernand Amandi. “It will require the national party and national donors to look hard in the mirror and say, ‘We cannot afford as a party to sacrifice Florida.’”

Similarly, Florida House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell suggested the state would “continue to sink into the abyss” if not for outside investments.

Along with the achievements in registrations, coupled with election integrity legislation and a double-digit victory for Trump, the reality of how deep the accomplishment of growing the GOP in the Sunshine State has been resounded on Election Day when Miami-Dade County Commissioner Kevin Marino Cabrera shared that, for the first time in more than three decades, the county had “turned red in a presidential election.”

“Today our community has spoken. They have voted for their families, their livelihoods, and a future that promises to thrive under conservative leadership,” said the commissioner. “This is more than a victory–it’s a realignment that demonstrates that Miami-Dade voters agree with the principles of the Republican Party: lower taxes, less government, and more freedom!”

Recently, Trump celebrated the expansion of Republican control in the state he calls home when state Rep. Hillary Cassel joined state Rep. Susan Valdes in crossing the aisle and departing the Democratic Party.

The president-elect’s sentiments of gratitude were shared by Republican Party of Florida Chairman Evan Power who posted, “Make no mistake Florida leads the way! If @TheDemocrats have left you with your failed radical agenda. You can join us to save the Country! It’s why in Florida Republicans now have a 1.15 million voter advantage.”

As the Harris campaign’s Florida director Jasmine Burney-Clark put it, “We just never had a fighting chance from the start.”

Kevin Haggerty
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