New numbers coming out of Florida indicate that the era of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has been a magnet for the state’s Republican Party.
When comparing October 2018 state records to July 2022 state records, the Sunshine State has gone from 13,278,070 overall voters to 14,315,755 voters.
In that time, the number of non-affiliated voters rose from 3,549,094 to 3,905,562 — an increase of just over 10 percent.
Democratic Party enrollment rose from 4,962,064 to 4,944,867 — which is an increase of only 17,197 people.
Then there is the Republican Party, which in 2018 was in second place to the Democratic Party at 4,681,598 voters.
The 2022 numbers show the state with 5,191,018 Republicans. That means from the 2018 election until this summer, the Florida GOP added 509,420 people. That is an increase of roughly 10 percent.
The numbers left Christian Ziegler, vice chairman of the Florida GOP, chortling.
“The biggest number in Florida Politics that no one is talking about: 17,197. While Florida has added 1,037,685 net new voters since [Ron DeSantis’] 2018 Victory, the Democrat Party only managed to convince 17,197 of them to register as a Democrat,” Ziegler said according to the website Florida’s Voice.
“Governor DeSantis is delivering on the important issues, our Florida GOP County leaders are executing on the ground and voters in every corner of our state are resonating with our record while showcasing a historic rejection of the Democrat Party,” he said.
Do you think DeSantis will win this next election?
Yes: 100% (8 Votes)
No: 0% (0 Votes)
“And while the data is great, we cannot afford to let up at this point,” he said, adding, “The Florida GOP is committed to the fight and we will not take our foot off of the gas until Governor DeSantis achieves victory, freedom in Florida is protected for generations to come and the Democrat Party is extinct in our state.”
Others noted the Democrats are offering little to Florida voters.
“The symptoms currently plaguing the Democrat Party in Florida point back to the virus that is the failed leadership in Washington DC and the disastrous extreme anti-American values leading the state and local Democrats further away from their constituents,” Lee County GOP Chairman Jonathan Martin said.
“Their entire platform is to be against whatever Ron DeSantis does, but they’re never telling the voters what they’re for, what they have to offer, and what they can do better,” state Rep. Spencer Roach said.
DeSantis is facing Democrat Charlie Crist in his quest for a second term.
The website Real Clear Politics reported that its average of polls shows DeSantis leading Crist by 4.8 percent. The site noted that of 12 polls it listed, Crist won only one of them, and in that poll his margin over DeSantis was within the poll’s margin of error.
In Florida, we take what is happening at the southern border seriously.
We are not a sanctuary state, and we will gladly facilitate the transport of illegal immigrants to sanctuary jurisdictions. pic.twitter.com/YeEbMzy8yG
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) September 15, 2022
By sending illegal immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard, DeSantis is “out-Trumping Trump,” Sean Freeder, who is an assistant political science professor at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, said, according to USA Today.
DeSantis’s standing with Florida voters is such that in a recent Suffolk University/USA TODAY Network poll, he was favored over President Joe Biden in a hypothetical 2024 presidential contest.
The poll gave DeSantis 52 percent support against 44 percent support for Biden.
The survey has a 4.4 percentage point margin of error, and was taken conducted with what the poll called “500 likely Florida voters” and “was conducted September 15-18 using live telephone interviews of households where respondents indicated they were very or somewhat likely to vote in the November 2022 general election for governor.”
