Why Florida Democrats keep losing — and what they could do to turn it around | Opinion

If Florida Democrats have any hope of digging out of the hole they’re in, they’ll need a serious reboot, and quick.

The party should start by taking a lesson from the GOP: When the Republicans lost to Barack Obama in 2012, the national party took a step back and conducted a postmortem on what went wrong. Florida Democrats would be wise to do the same in 2025. It’s clear the tattered playbook they’ve been using is no longer working.

In late January, Florida Democrats will elect, or possibly re-elect, a new chair of the state party. The choices so far: former state lawmaker Audrey Gibson or current Florida Democratic Chair Nikki Fried, the state’s former agriculture commissioner.

This leadership decision comes at a critical juncture for the party. The devastating losses of 2022 and 2024 weren’t anomalies. Over successive election cycles, the Florida Democratic Party has lost key voting blocs.

That’s because the party can’t seem to connect with key voter groups, particularly Latinos. In 2012, Barack Obama secured 60% of the Latino vote in Florida. By 2024, Donald Trump achieved the same margin, becoming the first Republican presidential candidate since 1988 to win Miami-Dade County.

But it’s not just Latinos the party is losing. Florida Democrats have failed to connect with voters across the spectrum. Too often, the party has been reactive — getting distracted by Republican culture wars — rather than proactive. And Democrats need to engage with voters year round, not just when there’s an election on the horizon.

Florida Democratic Sen. Shevrin Jones, who was chairman of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party last year, told the Editorial Board, “Democrats don’t need to hold up a sign saying we’re the party of the working class. We just need to get back to work.” By addressing pressing issues like the cost of living, property insurance and economic opportunities, the party can begin to rebuild trust with voters who have felt overlooked.

Leadership will play a critical role. Democrats are in a deep hole; they can’t afford to waste time on party infighting or finger pointing. Here’s an idea: Democrats should consider electing both Gibson and Fried — as co-chairs.

As a longtime legislator, Gibson would bring two decades of experience in the Florida Legislature to the job, along with her work as the former Duval County Democratic Party chair. Fried, who has been in the state party job for two years, has the hard-won lessons of 2024 to apply to the next election cycle.

By splitting the position in half, Fried could spend time focusing on fundraising, while Gibson, drawing on her experience as county party chair, could focus on daily operations and organizational responsibilities. Would that be enough to help energize a party that has hit bottom? It’s hard to say — but they have to do something.

What the party focuses on in the coming months will be critical. Florida Democrats must prioritize grassroots organizing and invest in year-round voter engagement. This includes outreach to voters, specifically Latino voters who represent a growing share of the electorate but have often been given short shrift by the party. But Latino voters are not a monolith, and Democrats will need to tailor their messages.

Sharing responsibilities for the state party could be risky. It might lead to additional conflict, hindering progress. The last thing the party needs is an internal power struggle.

But the clock is ticking and, with such a thin bench of candidates to turn to, Florida Democrats need to be practical. They need to make a leadership choice and move on to the harder part: talking to voters — and really listening.

As Florida Democrats look toward future elections, they have to think about basics: finding good candidates and nurturing them, supporting local parties in a real way (which takes money) and working to solve the problems of regular people — like insurance costs, or housing costs or the cost of living in general.

Rebuilding will take sustained effort. Can they do it? For the sake of democracy in Florida, we hope so.

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