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The Florida Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of
Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
, headquartered in Tallahassee. Former commissioner of agriculture Nikki Fried is the current chair.
Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before Presidency of Andrew Jackson, his presidency, he rose to fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses ...
, the first territorial governor of Florida in 1821, co-founded the Democratic Party. After Florida achieved statehood, the party dominated state politics until the
Reconstruction era The Reconstruction era was a period in History of the United States, US history that followed the American Civil War (1861-65) and was dominated by the legal, social, and political challenges of the Abolitionism in the United States, abol ...
following the
Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
, when Black citizens gained the right to vote. The party regained its dominance until the 1950s, after which Florida became a
swing state In United States politics, a swing state (also known as battleground state, toss-up state, or purple state) is any state that could reasonably be won by either the Democratic or Republican candidate in a statewide election, most often refe ...
until the 2020s. Following the 2022 elections, the Florida Republican Party holds supermajorities in both chambers of the Florida Legislature. The Florida Democratic Party holds neither of the state's U.S. Senate seats, and no statewide executive offices.


History

The Florida Democratic Party has historically dominated Florida's state and local politics for long periods.
Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before Presidency of Andrew Jackson, his presidency, he rose to fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses ...
, the first territorial governor of Florida in 1821, co-founded the Democratic Party. As Florida moved from territory to statehood status, the Florida Democratic Party emerged from the Locofocos. John Milton led the party, and became governor of the state, during the
Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
era. Republicans gained control during the Reconstruction era after the American Civil War and there were African-American officeholders during and following the Reconstruction era in Florida. Democrats regained control and disenfranchised black voters. There were no Republican governors from 1877 until 1967, when Claude R. Kirk, a Republican from
Jacksonville Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...
, was sworn in as governor of Florida. Florida politics was largely dominated by the Democrats until
Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...
's Southern strategy, which took advantage of objections to the advances of the Civil Rights Movement which resulted in a regional political realignment for the South. After Nixon's victory in 1968, the state voted Democratic in only four presidential elections: 1976 (
Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...
), 1996 (
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
), 2008 (
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
), and 2012 (
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
). The presidential election in 2000 was decided by a margin of 537 votes out of approximately six million cast in the state, earning
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
the presidency over
Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American former politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He previously served as ...
. The
Florida Senate The Florida Senate is the upper house of the Florida Legislature, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida House of Representatives being the lower house. Article III, Section 1 of the C ...
was dominated by Democrats until 1992, when a majority of Republicans was elected. The Florida House of Representatives turned Republican after the November 1996 election. The Florida Legislature became the first legislature in any of the states of the former Confederacy to come under complete Republican control when the Republicans gained control of the House and Senate in the 1996 election. Since the passage of the
Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and informally as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Presid ...
, Florida Democrats have prioritized advocating Medicaid expansion in the state, a policy that would provide a federally subsidized healthcare plan to approximately one million Floridians.


Governance

The current chairwoman of the Florida Democratic Party is former agriculture commissioner Nikki Fried, who succeeded former mayor of Miami Manny Diaz Sr. on February 25, 2023.


List of chairs

* Scott Maddox (2003–2005): Maddox, the former mayor of
Tallahassee, Florida Tallahassee ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of and the only incorporated municipality in Leon County, Florida, Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Fl ...
, served as chairman of the Florida Democratic Party from 2003 to 2006, leaving the post to run for governor. The Associated Press noted that while Democrats suffered electoral defeats during his tenure, party activists recognized he had built up the party's infrastructure and volunteer base." * Karen Thurman (2005–2010): Thurman, a former five-term member of Congress from Florida's 5th District, served from 2005 to 2010. She was elected chairman of the Florida Democratic Party in 2005, succeeding Scott Maddox, who resigned in order to seek the Democratic nomination for governor. Thurman resigned on November 12, 2010, following the midterm elections. * Rod Smith (2010–2013): In November 2010, Smith was elected chairman of the Florida Democratic Party, succeeding Karen Thurman who resigned on November 12, 2010, following the midterm elections. Smith, a former Alachua County state prosecutor and state senator from the 14th district, became chair following his unsuccessful bid for lieutenant governor in 2010. Smith's term expired in January 2013, when he was succeeded by Allison Tant. * Allison Tant (2014–2016): In December 2013, former lobbyist, philanthropist, and Democratic fundraiser Allison Tant announced she would seek the chairmanship of the Florida Democratic Party. She was elected in January 2014, after a closely contested race against Hillsborough state committeeman Alan Clendenin. After large national losses in 2014, Debbie Wasserman Schultz commissioned the Victory Task Force to "take a deep dive" to figure out what went wrong in 2014. Similarly, Chair Tant created the state-level LEAD Task Force, to learn the lessons of the statewide Democratic defeat. *Stephen Bittel (2016–2017): Bittel, who founded Terranova in 1980, is still an active Democrat in the state. He was chosen primarily for his fundraising ability after the 2016 election, but many critics noted his ability to curry influence with his immense wealth. In November 2017, he was accused of inappropriate office behavior, and subsequently left his role. *Terrie Rizzo (2017–2021): In December 2017, Rizzo was elected to replace Stephen Bittel, defeating Stacey Patel in an 830–291 vote. During Rizzo's term as chair and as a consequence of the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, the party focused on developing web products and established a department for social media marketing. * Manny Diaz (2021–2023), In January 2021, Diaz was elected with 54% from party leaders to replace Terrie Rizzo. Diaz was elected partly to bring outreach from the Cuban-American community, which was a voting bloc that helped Donald Trump win the state in the 2020 presidential election. Diaz resigned after the 2022 midterms, which saw landslide victories and legislative supermajorities for Republicans in Florida. * Nikki Fried (2023–present), On February 25, 2023, Fried was elected with 52% of the vote to fill the chair's vacancy after Diaz's resignation, defeating former state senator Annette Taddeo, Broward County Democratic Party chair Rick Hoye, and activist Carolina Ampudia. Fried was elected after a primary defeat in the 2022 Florida gubernatorial election the previous year.


House leaders

* Mark S. Pafford (2014–2016) * Janet Cruz (2016–2018) * Kionne McGhee (2018–2020) * Bobby DuBose (2020–2022) * Evan Jenne (2022) * Fentrice Driskell (2022–present)


Organization

The State Executive Committee of the Florida Democratic Party is organized into six standing committees. Standing committees include: the Rules Committee, the Judicial Council, the Diversity and Inclusion Committee, the Committee on Clubs, Organizations, and Caucuses, the Legislative Liaison Committee, and the Campaign Committee.


Platform

The Florida Democratic Party has adopted a platform that covers a wide range of topics and issues under the following headings: *Access to Healthcare *An Economy That Works for Everyone *Quality Education *Protecting our Environment *Immigration Reform *Preventing Gun Violence *Civil Rights *Government Accountability *Protecting Voting Rights *Women and Families


Current elected officials

The following is a list of Democratic statewide, federal, and legislative officeholders in Florida.


Members of Congress


U.S. Senate

*None Both of Florida's U.S. Senate seats have been held by Republicans since
2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...
. Bill Nelson was the last Democrat to represent Florida in the U.S. Senate. First elected in
2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...
, Nelson lost his bid for a fourth term in
2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...
to Republican governor
Rick Scott Richard Lynn Scott ( Myers; born December 1, 1952) is an American attorney, businessman, politician, and United States Navy, Navy veteran serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States senator from the state of F ...
.


U.S. House of Representatives

Out of the 28 seats Florida is apportioned in the U.S. House of Representatives, 8 are held by Democrats:


State


Statewide officials

*None Florida has not elected a Democrat in a state-wide elected office since November 6, 2018, when Nikki Fried defeated Republican Matt Caldwell in 2018 and was elected Florida's 12th commissioner of Agriculture. While eligible to run for a second term, she instead chose to step down and mounted a challenge against Governor Ron DeSantis, in his own re-election for Governor of Florida. DeSantis would go on to retain his governorship by historic margins.


State legislative leaders

* Senate minority leader: Lori Berman * House minority leader: Fentrice Driskell


State Senate

Democrats hold an 10-seat minority in the 40-member
Florida Senate The Florida Senate is the upper house of the Florida Legislature, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida House of Representatives being the lower house. Article III, Section 1 of the C ...
.


State House

Democrats hold a 33-seat minority in the 120-seat
Florida House of Representatives The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida Senate being the upper house. Article III, Section 1 of the C ...
.


Mayoral offices

Some of the state's major cities have Democratic mayors. As of 2023, Democrats control the mayor's offices in six of Florida's ten largest cities: *
Jacksonville Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...
(1):
Donna Deegan Donna Hazouri Deegan (born February 28, 1961) is an American politician and former television news anchor serving as the mayor of Jacksonville, Florida since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, she was elec ...
*
Tampa Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...
(3): Jane Castor * Orlando (4): Buddy Dyer * St. Petersburg (5): Ken Welch * Tallahassee (9): John Dailey * Fort Lauderdale (10): Dean Trantalis


Former Florida governors and U.S. senators


Governors

Democrats last won a gubernatorial election in Florida in
1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...
.


United States senators


See also

* Democratic Black Caucus of Florida * Democratic Party (United States) organizations * Political party strength in Florida * Political party strength in the United States


References


External links


Florida Democratic Party
*
Democratic Women's Club of FloridaDemocratic Caribbean Caucus of FloridaDemocratic Black Caucus of Florida
{{Authority control Democratic Party (United States) by state Politics of Florida Political parties in Florida 1834 establishments in Florida Territory Political parties established in 1834