Florida Democrats Insist Their Voter Turnout Problem Will Disappear in November

The party’s vocal critics say Democrats are “gaslighting” donors by saying the state is in play for Kamala Harris.

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In 2022, Gov. Ron DeSantis won Miami-Dade County by more than 10 points despite Democrats having a voter registration advantage in the county. Evan Vucci/AP

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY – Just days before Florida’s August primary, county Mayor Daniella Levine Cava’s campaign was convinced Florida Democrats would show the country that they’ve turned things around.

“What Aug. 20 is going to show us is that unlike August ’22 where you had a bottom fallout of turnout for the precursor of what was going to be a bloodbath of turnout in the general election,” Christian Ulvert, Cava’s campaign manager and a longtime political operative in Miami, told NOTUS. “It’s the opposite right now. Democrats lead turnout so far by 4 to 5 points as we sit here today, vote and vote by mail.”

Cava, a Democrat, did handily win 58% of the vote in the nonpartisan race, avoiding a runoff. As for Ulvert’s prediction that Democrats in the state would buck the party’s 2022 turnout problem? They didn’t come close.