Biden Campaigns in Florida

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Still, White House spokeswoman Olivia Dalton told reporters aboard Air Force One that Florida’s economy had benefited from Biden’s policies, saying they have led to infrastructure projects and spurred $9 billion in private sector investment. She noted that Florida’s unemployment rate is below the national average at 3% but was 5.9% when Biden took office.

Kevin Wagner, a Florida Atlantic University political science professor who runs the Palm Beach County school’s polling operation, said Biden has a chance in

Florida given the high number of independents, who make up about a quarter of the electorate.

Wagner also said the inability of Gov. Ron DeSantis, Trump’s former rival for the Republican nomination, and the state legislature to rein in Florida’s skyrocketing housing prices and insurance rates could cost the party votes.

“The assumption that Florida will necessarily be an easy victory for Republicans is questionable,” Wagner said.

Both Florida parties have been hit by infighting. The Republicans recently ousted their state party chair, Christian Ziegler, after he got caught up in a sex scandal. “President Biden can keep visiting Florida all he wants, but I hope while he is here he learns from the policies here that are working. We look forward to retiring him and his failed administration in November,” the party’s new chair, Evan Power, said in a statement.

The state Democratic Party has long been plagued by disorganization. After the 2020 election, party employees learned that their medical insurance had not been paid, leaving them uncovered and some with significant doctor bills.

Former state agriculture commissioner Nikki Fried was elected party chair last year in response to the 2022 trouncing. Fried is the only Democrat to win a statewide race in the last decade when she won in 2018, but so far hasn’t been able to stem the party’s voter registration slide.

Fried said proposals that would restrict abortion and legalize marijuana could be on the ballot, driving up turnout among Democrats and left-leaning independents.

“Florida is in play and is worth fighting for,” she said.