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Florida GOP Chair Evan Power on the future of Republicans vs. Democrats in the state

Head shot of man in a suit
Florida Republican Party
Evan Power said he believes Republicans will continue to make inroads in traditional Democratic strongholds.

Power reacts to state Democratic Chair Nikki Fried's plans to bolster her beleaguered party. He says the Democrats' problem is their "pro-socialist" message, which is "out of touch" with Florida voters.

Florida Democrats are trying to end their statewide losing streak by reaching out to voters and possibly even opening their primaries to those with no party affiliation.

But state Republican Party Chair Evan Power tells WUSF he doesn't think that strategy will make much of a difference.

The state's once-dominant Democrats are trailing by more than 1 million registered voters in Florida. Party Chair Nikki Fried tells WUSF they're holding "front-porch" meetings and trying to erase that deficit by reaching out to more people.

But Power said it's the Democrats' message that is holding them back.

"Nikki Fried has tried this, 'We're gonna go everywhere and have town hall strategies' last time," he said. "The problem is the message doesn't connect with Florida voters. You're seeing us pick up a 1.32 million-voter advantage because people believe in what we're doing and people are coming here from other states because of that success."

Power said Republicans will continue to make inroads in traditional Democratic strongholds.

"We're seeing tremendous success in South Florida with Hispanics. We're seeing it across pretty much every market. Every county shifted more Republican than Democrat in the last election because of the message," he said.

"And as long as the Florida Democratic Party listens to (state Rep.) Anna Eskamani and (state Sen.) Carlos Guillermo Smith, there is no future for the Democratic Party in Florida."

Power said Democrats have become "pro-socialist" and "out of touch" with Florida voters.

"It's not a winning strategy. You see that the antisemitic, socialist messaging that comes from these people and people like the mayor candidate (Zohran Mamdani) in New York and some of these other places, it drives people away," he said.

"If you look at Hillary Cassell, a former Democrat in South Florida, (who) became a Republican because of this message because they've become so antisemitic, so pro-socialist and so out of touch with Florida voters."

Steve Newborn is a WUSF reporter and producer at WUSF covering environmental issues and politics in the Tampa Bay area.
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