How Democrats Can Win Florida in 2028

On Tuesday, Democrats flipped traditionally Republican states in places many considered out of reach. As I watched the returns come in from my apartment in Brooklyn, I wondered whether Florida, my home state, would also turn blue. In the end, Republicans won most of Florida’s major statewide races––one of the few losses Democrats suffered. On the surface, the sea change that swept through the country appeared to have missed Florida. But Democratic candidates here didn’t lose by much, and that distinction paints a more complicated picture of Florida’s electorate.The results challenge the assumptions about the political limits of progressives in the state. With 2028 approaching, Democrats need to start building a new movement in Florida now.The results were very closeOn election night, Alfred Soto, an associate teaching professor of communications at Florida International University, was momentarily buoyed as he watched the vote count with friends in Miami. For years, Soto mobilized voters as part of the Cuban American Democrats, before the organization disbanded earlier this year. “As I saw those early returns, I thought, can we do this? Is this possible?” Early returns showed Democ...