https://archive.ph/GRg2u
As they grapple with their political future, Democrats are also reckoning with policy costs their losses have exacted. DeSantis has made Florida a laboratory for conservative policies that have been lauded and adopted by Republicans elsewhere in the country, including banning certain textbooks in schools and barring transgender minors from receiving certain health-care treatments. He has positioned himself as a top potential presidential contender for 2024, and polls have shown that a majority of voters in the state support his handling of the pandemic and other challenges facing Floridians.
Former congresswoman Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D) said a lack of investment from Democratic donors helped pave the way for DeSantis to achieve national prominence and has given him “a clear path … to be able to make a case for himself.” Mucarsel-Powell predicted a long road to recovery for Democrats: “There’s going to be a lot of difficult work to rebuild trust in the party.”
The GOP’s gains came even as the state’s electorate in recent elections has become younger and more diverse — trends that Democrats long felt were on their side. Republicans overtook Democrats in voter registration in 2021, figures that only widened in the lead-up to the midterm election. The state has more than 5.3 million registered Republicans and just under 5 million registered Democrats, according to state figures. And in the months since the election, pollsters and operatives have found that the state saw depressed turnout among Democrats.
Christian Ziegler, vice chairman of the Florida Republican Party, touted DeSantis’s victory as a product of him being a “relentless fighter” willing to take on tough issues and delivering wins for Floridians. “Under Governor DeSantis, freedom has overtaken sunshine as the No. 1 driver of tourism and relocation,” Ziegler said.
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