Florida Dems close ranks behind VP Harris for presidential nomination

TALLAHASSEE– Florida Democrats, from members of Congress to college students, are enthusiastic in their support of Vice President Kamala Harris as the party’s nominee for president and predict her candidacy could even put the Sunshine State back in play.

“We know Florida will be playing a major role in what happens next,” Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried said during a zoom meeting with the media Monday, one day after President Biden dropped the bombshell that he was pulling out of the race and endorsing Harris.

“Running a former prosecutor against a convicted felon, no one is better prepared to prosecute the case against Donald Trump,” Fried said. “I like our odds.”

At least 236 of the 254 members of Florida’s delegates to the Democratic National Convention next month signed a letter pledging their support to Harris, she added.

Fried said she anticipates a renewed energy for turnout. “With Kamala Harris at the top of the ticket, everything is possible at this moment,” she said.

Her candidacy has also reinvigorated Gen Z voters under 30, according to Democratic youth groups.

“Now we’re not voting for two old men,” said Connor Effrain, 20, president of the University of Florida College Democrats. “We’re voting for an extremely old man, Trump, who’s going to be the oldest nominee in American presidential history, versus a much younger candidate who really represents a new generation of American leadership and represents the antithesis to Trump.”

But Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has sharply criticized Biden’s fitness to lead, wrote on X Sunday that with Harris “Democrats are just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.”

In his view, she is “too liberal and too unaccomplished” to appeal to voters, despite her decades of public service as San Francisco District Attorney, California Attorney General and U.S. Senator. Other Republicans have called Harris a “DEI hire,” echoing a popular target of the Florida governor’s culture wars, “diversity, equity and inclusion” programs.

Both state and national Democratic party officials moved swiftly to present a united front, with members of the state congressional delegation, legislative caucus and convention delegates lined up to voice their support for the historic nomination of Harris, who already made history as the first Black woman vice president.

“She is the best positioned candidate to beat Donald Trump,” said U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, noting that as a prosecutor in California Harris prosecuted felons and put rapists behind bars. “She is the ultimate contrast to a lawless and toxic Trump, and represents the next generation of Democratic leaders who can directly confront Trump’s fitness for office.”

Harris earned the chance to be the party’s nominee by successfully defeating the Trump-Pence ticket as Biden’s running mate in 2020, working alongside Biden for four years, and helping Biden earn the millions of votes in the 2024 presidential primary, Wasserman Schultz said. “No doubt she can beat this con man again.”

Within 24 hours of announcing Harris would seek the nomination, the Democratic National Committee raised $81 million, Wasserman Schultz added.

“The Florida Democratic Party and the DNC must be more united than ever,” Fried said.

Florida’s large number of independent voters could swing toward Harris, Fried said. One third of the state’s electorate has no party affiliation, Fried said, and those independent voters went 60% to 70% for Democrats in recent elections.

Democrats are united, State Sen. Shevrin Jones of Miami said, because “everybody knows what is at risk if we go into a contentious convention.”

The endorsement of Harris has generated excitement among would-be voters, according to an analysis by QR Code Generator of Google search data.

Searches for registering to vote “exploded by 1,011% following Sunday’s events,” the highest they’ve been in the past month, the online analytics company reported. The searches were highest in Florida, with four of the top five metro areas in Florida.

Searches for “donate to Harris” and “ActBlue,” a left-leaning political committee, also surged.

“This increase in ‘register to vote’ searches was most pronounced in Florida, which will prove pivotal in the race to 270 electoral college votes this November,’ said Marc Porcar, CEO of QR Code Generator, which generates free QR codes and also offers analytics services on how QR codes are being used.

State Rep. Fentrice Driskell, D-Tampa, said that having Harris at the top of the ticket in Florida will help with down ballot races where Democrats are trying to win more seats in the Florida Legislature to break the Republican supermajority stronghold.

But one prominent Biden fundraiser, Orlando attorney John Morgan, said he was disappointed in the Harris wave.

“I’m burned out,” Morgan said in an email. “And I wanted a convention not a coronation.”

“I love the historical aspect of her story,” said Morgan, who continued to raise money for Biden even after switching his registration to independent in 2017. “I just don’t think she can win.”

Matt Isbell, a Democratic elections analyst, cautioned that the party’s enthusiasm for Harris doesn’t mean Florida will stop being a stronghold for Trump supporters.

In 2020, Trump defeated Biden in Florida by about 3.4 percentage points

Isbell also said that many younger voters still may stay home on election day, failing to boost the Democrats as they hope.

Others see Harris as a game changer.

Samuel Vilchez Santiago, 27, chair of the Orange County Democratic Executive Committee and one of the youngest members of the Democratic National Committee, said he was thrilled to announce the unanimous endorsement of his committee for a Harris presidential bid.

“As young people we see in Kamala Harris a leader who sees our hopes and dreams for a brighter and more inclusive future,” Santiago said.

Harris is a huge pivot for young voters, agreed Jayden D’Onofrio, 19, a Tallahassee Community College student who co-founded the Florida Future Leaders PAC earlier this year along with the chairs of the state High School and College Democrats and others.

“Kamala has established herself for a while now as someone who is definitely in line with youth on the issues,” D’Onofrio said. “There’s a new sort of motivation and energy there now that wasn’t there before. There’s no sugarcoating it, the past month has been absolute hell for Democrats. And I think the past 24 hours have completely flipped the script.”

Alissa Gary of the Sentinel staff contributed to this story.