All the latest polls show that late-breakers in the 2022 midterm elections are moving hard to the Republican side, but what’s going on in Florida is insane.
“Florida has 5.28 million registered Republicans for the Nov. 8 election — an increase of more than 86,376 from the number of Republicans registered to vote in the August primary,” the Sun Sentinel reports.
“The state has 4.97 million Democrats — just 9,380 more than the number who were registered to vote in August.”
That’s more than nine Republican Floridians registered for every Democrat registered.
The explosive growth of the GOP in Florida has prompted some to ponder whether the state is still purple — able to vote red or blue, depending on the candidate.
Former President Donald Trump won Florida in 2016 and 2020, and Barack Obama won in 2008 and 2012. But with the new influx of Republican voters, that may start to change.
“It might be time to consider Florida, if not a red state, than a red-leaning state. If you’re just being factual, until the Democrats start winning races statewide with some degree of regularity, it’s hard to call it a battleground state,” Kevin Wagner, a Florida Atlantic University political scientist, told the Sun Sentinel.
The flood to the GOP goes back a decade. There are now 5.28 million registered Republicans in the state, up 24.3% from 2012. On the other hand, there are 4.97 million registered Democrats, which is just 3.96% higher than ten years ago.
The longtime swing has prompted President Joe Biden to travel to Fort Lauderdale this week in a last-ditch effort to save Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist. But the move seems pointless; the Real Clear Politics (RCP) average of all polls puts Crist behind by 12.3 points.
Biden will also try to save another Democrat, Val Demings, but she trails Sen. Marco Rubio in the RCP average by 8 points.
There’s more bad news nationally for Democrats that is likely playing out in Florida, too. Blacks and Hispanics are moving hard to the GOP.
During the last midterm elections in 2018, Democrats crushed Republicans among black voters, winning 92% of the black vote to just 6% for the GOP. That same year, Democrats enjoyed a lopsided majority among Hispanic voters, 72% to 25%, according to exit polling data studied by Pew Research.
But amid skyrocketing gas and food prices and soaring crime rates across the country, the two voting blocs are having a change of heart from their long — and expected — support of Democrats.
“The issue of inflation – and the feeling that the White House hasn’t done enough to address it – is helping Republicans score significant inroads among Hispanic and Black voters, both demographic groups that Democrats have long relied on for support,” USA Today reports.
“Now, 40% of Hispanics and 21% of Blacks are backing the Republican candidate,” according to a USA Today/Suffolk University poll.
Those numbers are huge — black support is up 15 points from 6% in the last midterms to 21%, and Hispanic support jumped the same 15 points to 40%.
The sudden movement among the two voting blocs comes as blacks and Hispanics have grown increasingly frustrated with soaring crime in U.S. cities. After decades of failure by Democrats — who have long run the biggest American cities — perhaps it’s time to give the other guys a try.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
Joseph Curl has covered politics for 35 years, including 12 years as White House correspondent for a national newspaper. He was also the a.m. editor of the Drudge Report for four years. Send tips to [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @josephcurl.
