Miami Beach gets a Republican club for the first time in 30 years. What to know | Opinion

Miami Beach, long considered Democratic territory, now has a Republican club for the first time since 1995. The relaunch reflects a broader political shift across Miami-Dade County, where Republicans now outnumber Democrats in voter registration.

And I’ve seen the shift firsthand. When I worked on state races in 2012 and 2014 in Florida, Miami-Dade was viewed as a Democratic stronghold and virtually unwinnable for statewide GOP candidates.

FULL STORY: A Republican club is back in Miami Beach after 30 years. That’s not a fluke | Opinion

Here are key takeaways:

• The Miami-Dade County Republican Party chartered the Miami Beach Republican Club in April, marking the GOP’s first organized presence on the Beach since 1995, when Bill Clinton was president and gas cost $1.15 a gallon.
• Miami-Dade County now has 451,390 registered Republicans compared to 404,791 Democrats. In 2024, Donald Trump became the first Republican presidential candidate to win the county since George H.W. Bush in 1988. The GOP didn’t gain this ground by accident.
• Club President Brandon Lloyd said the group aims to bring “real marketplace ideas to city hall: smaller government, lower taxes and fees, less bureaucracy and a stronger focus on public safety, infrastructure and quality of life.”
• Migration from blue states like New York is reshaping Miami’s political makeup, with new residents citing taxes and political climate as reasons for moving south.
• The club has already hosted a meet-and-greet for Republican gubernatorial candidate U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, as residents focus on rising insurance costs, overdevelopment and affordability.

The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The full story in the link at top was reported, written and edited entirely by journalists.