Florida Republicans have expanded their lead in early voting and mail-in voting figures, days ahead of the highly anticipated midterm election.
All signs are pointing to a red wave in the Sunshine State, as Democrats have known they would face an uphill battle given the massive gains the GOP has seen in terms of voter registration over the past few years.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) originally announced that Republicans overtook Democrats in terms of voter registration in late 2021. Their gains only increased over the last year, besting Democrats by over 100,000 registered voters in March 2022, 200,000 in July 2022, and 300,000 in November 2022.
“Here’s what I can tell you. When I was standing here four years ago, preparing for the governor’s election, this state had almost 300,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans. And we had never in the history of Florida — prior to me being elected governor — had more registered Republicans and Democrats,” DeSantis said a few weeks ago.
Ron DeSantis, governor of Florida, waves as he arrives to a news conference in Matlacha, Florida, on Wednesday, October 5, 2022.(Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg)
“And even though we’ve never had an election in Florida history [where] we’ve had more Republicans than Democrats, this November, we will now have over 300,000 more Republicans than Democrats,” he added.
This appears to be paying off already, as Republicans are edging out Democrats in early and mail-in voting statewide as of Saturday. Perhaps what is more telling, Republicans are besting Democrats in early and mail-in voting in traditionally blue Miami-Dade, per Florida’s Voice, as well:
— Florida’s Voice (@FLVoiceNews) November 5, 2022
That trend was seen last week as well, as Republicans began edging out Democrats in early voting and mail-in voting in Miami-Dade, feeding Democrat fears of a red wave not just in Florida but nationwide, come Tuesday.
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