Photo: Adobe Stock
The Sunshine State has solidified its position as a leading Republican territory, thanks to a surge of GOP voter registration following the Covid pandemic and beyond.
According to voter registration stats from Interactive Polls, Democrats held the voting registration advantage in Florida in 2020, following the presidential election, boasting a 97,215-voter registration lead.
In 2024, the GOP now leads by nearly one million Republican voters (888,563), a phenomenon that can likely be traced to the rapid influx of conservative voters from outside states over the past four years.
According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, almost eight million people in the United States relocated to new states in 2021, and Florida was one of three states that experienced heavy “state-to-state flows,” which saw an increase in state migration from Californians.
Since Florida became one of the top destinations for blue-state voters seeking a more conservative way of life, it appears that this has significantly boosted the state’s Republican demographic.
Historically, Florida has been considered a battleground state or a “swing” state, but thanks to the rapid uptick in Republican voter registration, the electoral cache is no longer on the table for Democrats in 2024.
In comments made to Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) explained, “Part of that, I think, is a response locally where people are more likely to switch from Democrat to Republican in Florida, nonparty to Republican, than vice versa.”
He added, “That’s been an important component of it, but I do think that migration has skewed amongst people who come to Florida, not because they want to change the policies to reflect in Illinois or California or New York, but because they appreciate how Florida has done it differently from where they’re coming from.”
In Florida, President Trump is currently leading Biden in a general election. New polling from Redfield & Wilton Strategies found that the 45th president is holding a seven-point lead over Biden in the Sunshine State.