The Florida Democratic Party is having elections for who will lead their party tomorrow in Orlando. It comes at a time of tremendous turbulence for the party.
Democrats are licking their wounds after their worst Presidential election performance in the state since 1988. Republicans claimed outright super majorities in both state legislative chambers. They lost two additional seats when sitting Democrats switched parties.
After those results, incumbent FDP Chair Nikki Fried is being challenged by former Jacksonville state lawmaker Audrey Gibson who says her party needs a complete makeover.
“It's not Lawton Charles's Democratic Party anymore. It's 2025. We have to meet people where they are. The demographics of the party has changed. The makeup of who's part of their party has changed, or the people that we're trying to keep and bring back. At this point, Republicans have dominated our legislature for every year since 1996 and our governor’s mansion for every year since 1999,” she said.
Fried became the party chair in 2022, after the party had a terrible performance in the midterm. In a video posted across her social media accounts, Fried said rebuilding is going to take time.
“Our mission is bigger than one election. Our journey to rebuild will continue for many elections to come, and consistency is key. Stability is key. As we continue to rebuild, the path forward will remain simple. We continue to organize in our communities, work to earn the support of voters in local elections and registered voters year-round,” she said.
The chair position isn’t the only one up for grabs. Two people are running for vice chair: Duval County Democratic Party head Daniel Henry and 19-year-old political organizer Jayden D'Onofrio.
Duval has been one of few bright spots for Democrats in Florida, with the party winning the Jacksonville Mayor race in 2023. Henry said he wants to bring some of that success to the state party.
“That we're showing Democrats in cities and communities across the state what it means to be a Democrat and what it means in terms of providing everyday voters and neighbors a better life and a better shared experience. That is the way that I think we're going to be able to truly get to a point where Democrats run statewide, and we can be successful,” he said.
D'Onofrio ran a political committee this past election cycle that raised over a million dollars. He said Democrats need to reevaluate how they do messaging after their losses.
“Republicans have dominated our legislature for every year since 1996 and our governor mentioned for every year since 1999 it's gotten us to this point where we have one of the worst property insurance crisis in the entire country. We're also one of the most unaffordable states in the entire nation, and unfortunately, on a larger scale, I don't think our state party was able to bring that message to the voters,” he said.
This is also the first FDP election under new party rules. Those changes are giving more Democrats who may not be aligned with the dominant ideas in a local party a greater say.
FDP spokesman Matt Dailey said prior to the change, one committeeperson in a county controlled a weighted vote for their county in those elections based on the number of Democratic voters in that county. Now, several committee people are being appointed to each county based on that performance.
“Ending the weighted vote means that we have elected more state committee people per county. So now Miami Dade County and many others have a number of state committee people who will vote for the chair. And so, what that means is there are more voices at the table than we've ever had before for an election,” he said.
Regardless of the outcome of Saturday’s election, the Republican Party’s dominance in Florida is unlikely to be upturned anytime soon. Democrats have a long way to go if they want to regain any power and influence in state government.
