Florida's Democratic Party is being battered like never before. The state's once-dominant party is trailing Republicans by 1 million registered voters. And it hasn't won a governor's race since Lawton Chiles in 1994. So what's being done to stem the tide?
WUSF talked with party Chair Nikki Fried, the last Florida Democrat to win a statewide office in 2018 as Agriculture commissioner. She's proposing expanding the party's reach reach by opening its primaries to independents.
READ ALSO: Florida GOP Chair Evan Power on the future of Republicans vs. Democrats in the state
Democrats have outspent Republicans in some (recent) races and still lost. So where should you all put their resources? What's the future for the party in Florida?
One of the big things that I think that I have been hearing a lot over the last few years, and especially since November's election, is how the party system is broken. Democrats nationally have a 29 percent approval rating, and what we have here is a closed primary. In Florida, we are only one of 11 states in the nation that do it this way.
And the word that I am hearing from everybody is this has got to change. You know, that we are disenfranchising one third of the people of our state. We're seeing a lot of our own coalition base go into the independent lane. We are seeing a lot of people that are just so frustrated with the status quo with the system.
So we're having the real conversation of opening up our primaries to the independents and to the NPAs (no party affiliation) of our state. We are soliciting information. We're soliciting responses for anybody who's listening.
We've opened up an email open primary at Floridadems.org. We're trying to make a decision this year so that we can kind of move the ball forward because I think that is what is going to ultimately change how we view politics in the state of Florida, is when we get more people engaged.
Democrats have been rather quiet with everything that's been going on the last few months of the Trump administration. It seems like the loudest voices are on the left. Where are the more moderate voices?
And should the Democrats lean into their base and start leaning more populist to the left? Or do you think that maybe a more winning recipe is to appeal to the great middle of voters out there?
Well, here in the state of Florida, we are basically a third, a third, a third. We've got a third of Democrats, third of independents and a third of Republicans. No party can win the state without appealing to those in the center. And the center is changing.
I mean, before the center used to have conventional wisdom that typically people are there, but they kind of lean left, lean right, and there's really a very small percentage that is flippable inside of that independent base. That's changing over time, that you're seeing a lot more of the Democratic base, in theory, going independent.
You're seeing a lot more younger generation going independent. You're seeing a lot more Black and brown men registering as independents. So an informed coalition, you got to be talking to the masses. Where is the ability to create a coalition that has a tent that includes, you know, the Democrats in the left-leaning part of our party, but also making sure that we have a message that is going to take 60 to 70 percent of that independent base, which is how Donna Deegan in Jacksonville and Daniela Levine Cava down in Miami won is by creating that type of coalition.
Let's look at the recent legislative session. Floridians are crying out over inflation. Pocketbook issues were not really discussed much. What can the Democratic Party do to get your message out, to address the issues that most ordinary Floridians care about?
I'm on a "front-porch swing," is what we're calling it, where we're crisscrossing the state, going to red and rural areas, talking to Democrats, Republicans, independents; asking them what's on their minds, what are things that are keeping them up at night.
And we're seeing and hearing a consistent message: Florida is unaffordable. People can't afford their rent; they can't afford their mortgages; they can't afford their property insurance; they can't afford just everyday cost of living, services.
And so it's really incumbent upon the Democratic Party, our candidates, our electeds, to be having those conversations. And not just talking about it, but here are the proposals that we are going to do to make your life better.
And I think that we have to understand that there is frustration on the ground from everybody, that the system is broken. How in the world are we electing people time and time again, and our lives are not getting better?
And it's going to be the Democrats who are stepping up, having those conversations and having them everywhere, not just in blue areas, and that's how we're going to build back a party that's truly reflective of the people in our state.
Barack Obama recently addressed a group of Democrats in New Jersey. One of his comments was, "I think it's going to require a little less navel-gazing and a little less whining and being in fetal positions, and it's going to require Democrats to just toughen up." What's your take on that?
I don't disagree. I think that what you have seen so much is whether it's reality or it's perception, that too many people think that that's what the Democratic Party does, that we sit and we scream about what is going on in Trump world, what is going on with Republicans, and not showing how we would lead.
And so there is this perception that Democrats are just screaming at windmills, and that is not how we're going to have progress.
And so President Obama is correct. The Democrats need to step up show why it is important for Democrats to lead — we're the ones who always are putting working families and the middle class first. We're the ones who are always trying to support small businesses, reducing the deficit and actually putting people into jobs.
And so we have to be promoting what we have been able to achieve in the 50, 60 years that when Democrats have either controlled Washington, D.C., in the White House or in Congress, and come up with policies today that are going to make people's lives better and not just be continuing to scream at what Trump's doing.
And yet, Democrats have been rather quiet with everything that's been going on the last few months of the Trump administration. It seems like the loudest voices are on the left.
Nationwide, there are Sen. Bernie Sanders, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and in Florida, it seems like the loudest voices here are people like Rep. Maxwell Frost and state Rep. Anna Eskamani from the Orlando area, who are more on the left side of the spectrum. Where are the more moderate voices? And do you think they're getting drowned out in all the yelling out there?
I think that's part of it. I think part of it is that it's always the loudest voices. It doesn't mean it's the most amount of voices. I mean, we've got incredible elected officials all across the state of Florida, from Jared Moskowitz to Debbie Wasserman Schultz down in South Florida to Shervin Jones also down in South Florida. We've got incredible candidates all across our state.
We have people like (New Jersey Sen.) Cory Booker. We have (Kentucky Gov.) Andy Beshear. We have senators that are more moderate, but they are not throwing the louder conversations, and so they are out there saying the same things. They're saying the same things, but saying them differently.
And I think that just because you scream louder doesn't mean that you are always either correct or the path to be followed, but it is a consistent drumbeat that you are hearing from Democrats, that they're tapping into the frustrations that the American people have with the economy, that they're having with increased tariffs and inflation going up, people losing their jobs.
In the federal government, we're seeing what's happening in the weather service industry, I mean here, and you know, NPR and the defunding of our public institutions. These are types of things that people are starting to realize. The ramifications of not having access to information, to science, to real data, is having impacts on people's lives and unfortunately, loss of life.
Let's talk about a successor to Gov. Ron DeSantis. David Jolly, a Democrat now, is running for governor. He hasn't been elected to any office in over a decade. State Sen. Jason Pizzo, the former minority leader, resigned from the party. He's talking about running as an independent. And John Morgan, the famous lawyer, is contemplating forming another party.
What do you think your chances are of cutting through all the static and getting a really good chance at getting the first statewide seat since you were Agriculture commissioner?
I think that it's all about building that coalition as party chair. You know, I can't endorse or get behind (someone) in a primary, and I don't know if other candidates in the Democratic field are going to jump in, but what I have been seeing from David, and from what I'm hearing from people who have had interactions with him, he's showing up everywhere.
He's going to progressive spaces, he's going to independent spaces, he's going to the traditional Democratic base and saying, "Listen, this is where my values are. This is where my heart is. This is why I think that I'm the best candidate at this moment. This is what needs to happen here in the state of Florida to create really true affordability back into our state."
And he's getting a very warm reception from Democrats, and people are leaning into his message and hearing it and applauding it.
And so with that, he's able to build this coalition that is based on the issues that are happening here in our state, and I think with the noise of the independents, whether it's John or Jason, I truly believe that, you know, John Morgan wants the Democratic Party to be better.
I truly believe that to my core, from my personal interactions with John to knowing where his heart is, that he wants to push the Democratic Party to be better. He's been a Democrat his entire life, until after the 2018 campaign. But he's always told me, and so I do believe that if we are able to showcase that we have finally heard the message of the people and finally stepping up to a party that people want to be a part of and trust again, that people like John Morgan are going to come back to the table.
You're down a million registered voters. You used to be the favorite party here for 100 years. Right now, you're way down in the number of registered voters in the state. Do you believe that getting a message out is enough to overcome that's a pretty big hurdle?
Well, look, for years, Democrats had over 800,000 more voters registered than Republicans, and we were still losing. The game is not the math. The game is what are we going to do for the people? How are we going to serve?
I think that after 30 years of one-party control of this state, where we have water coming through every single one of our streets when it rains, we are seeing hurricane after hurricane after hurricane decimate our state, we are seeing teacher shortages. No matter where you are in this state, our public education system is failing our children.
The safety of our communities is, people are scared in their communities, and so we have to be able to present this is how we're going to solve all those issues.
And I do believe that when we have those messages, and the Republicans are equally frustrated with their party. I mean, as I'm crisscrossing the state and talking to Republicans, including (the) earlier part of this week, was having one of our front-porch swing tours, and one of the individuals who was a Republican on one of these farms said, "I don't recognize my own party. I can't vote Democrat yet."
So if we are able to show real solutions and understanding of the moment, we are going to be able to not only form a coalition of Democrats, engaged Democrats, but also independents who believe that we are listening to them as well and incorporating them into our platform, and those Republicans who are disenfranchised with the current moment of MAGA.
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