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Florida Democrats Call Off Major Event In Orlando Because of COVID-19

An illustration of a donkey imposed over a State of Florida flag.
Al
/
stock.adobe.com
The Leadership Blue event has been postponed indefinitely.

Pointing to a continued surge of COVID-19 cases, the Florida Democratic Party on Monday called off a major annual conference and fundraising event scheduled for the end of August in Orlando.

The party said it was postponing the Leadership Blue event, which had been slated for Aug. 27 through Aug. 29, but did not indicate when the event might be rescheduled.

“Over the last few weeks, we closely monitored the relevant metrics and consulted with renowned epidemiological experts from Florida and beyond,” party Executive Director Marcus Dixon said in a prepared statement. “We planned to have robust health and safety protocols in place, but eventually came to the conclusion that, given the trajectory of new infections and hospitalizations across the state and school openings in the weeks leading up to the event, it would have been imprudent to carry out this event as scheduled.”

In announcing the postponement, the party also took aim at Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, describing the surge as a “DeSantis-enabled COVID-19 spike.”