Florida Democratic Party


The Florida Democratic Party is the state branch of the United States Democratic Party in the state of Florida, headquartered in Tallahassee.

History

The Florida Democratic Party has historically dominated Florida's state and local politics. Andrew Jackson, the first territorial governor of Florida in 1821, co-founded the Democratic Party. As Florida moved from territory to statehood status, the FDP emerged out of the locofocos. John Milton led the party, and became governor of the state, during the Civil War era.
There were no Republican governors from 1877 until 1967, when Claude R. Kirk, a Republican from Jacksonville, was sworn in as governor of Florida.
Florida politics was largely dominated by the Democrats until Richard Nixon's Southern strategy, which took advantage of white objections to the advances of the Civil Rights Movement which resulted in a regional political realignment for the South. After Nixon's victory in 1968, the state voted Democratic in only four Presidential elections: 1976, 1996, 2008 and 2012. The presidential election in 2000 was decided by a margin of 537 votes out of approximately six million cast in the state, earning George W. Bush the presidency over Al Gore.
The Florida Senate was dominated by Democrats until 1992, when a majority of Republicans was elected. The Florida House of Representatives turned Republican after the November 1996 election. Since then, the number of Democrats in both chambers have continued to drop. The Florida Legislature became the first legislature in any of the states of the former Confederacy to come under complete Republican control when the Republicans gained control of the House and Senate in the 1996 election. However, in the 2006 election the Democrats actually gained seats in the State House, the first time this had occurred since the early 1980s.
In the 2006 election, the Democratic nominee for governor was U.S. Representative Jim Davis from Tampa, Florida. He lost the election to Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist.
The most Democratic region of the state is South Florida, which contains the large cities of Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach. The Tampa Bay region is also relatively Democratic, although it has become much more competitive in recent electoral cycles. Leon County, which contains the state capitol of Tallahassee and Florida State University, and Alachua County, home to the city of Gainesville and the University of Florida, are also strong Democratic areas. North Florida and the panhandle are also very Democratic on the local level, although those two regions are solid Republican strongholds in presidential elections.
Florida Democrats demanded, on March 13, 2008, a new primary vote, and state party officials had a proposal for recouping the 210 delegates the Sunshine State lost when it moved its primary ahead of the approved time frame. After weeks of negotiations, the Florida Democratic Party said on March 17, 2008 that it would not hold a second primary in the state.
The current chairwoman of the FDP is Terrie Rizzo, who succeeded Stephen Bittel on December 9, 2017.
In July 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the party took a $780,000 Paycheck Protection Program loan. Following criticism of the loan, they announced they would return the money.

Governance

List of chairs

The State Executive Committee of the Florida Democratic Party is organized into six standing committees. Standing committees include: the Rules Committee, the Judicial Council, the Diversity and Inclusion Committee, the Committee on Clubs, Organizations, and Caucuses, the Legislative Liaison Committee, and the Campaign Committee.

Platform

The Florida Democratic Party has adopted a platform that covers a wide range of topics and issues under the following headings:
The following is a list of Democratic statewide, federal, and legislative officeholders as of October 23, 2018:

Members of Congress

U.S. Senate

Both of Florida's U.S. Senate seats have been held by Republicans since 2019. Bill Nelson was the last Democrat to represent Florida in the U.S. Senate. First elected in 2000, Nelson lost his bid for a fourth term in 2018 to Republican governor Rick Scott.

U.S. House of Representatives

Out of the 27 seats Florida is apportioned in the U.S. House of Representatives, 13 are held by Democrats:
Democrats control one of the four elected statewide offices:

State Senate

Democrats hold a 17-23 minority in the 40-member Florida Senate:
Democrats hold a 47-73 minority in the 120-seat Florida House of Representatives:
Some of the state's major cities have Democratic mayors. As of 2019, Democrats control the mayor's offices in five of Florida's ten largest cities:

Governors

United States senators