Florida’s registered Republican voters outnumber Democrats by more than 100,000 for the first time

FIRST ON FOX: A red wave is brewing in Florida as registered Republican voters now outnumber Democrats by more than 100,000 for the first time in state history, according to data obtained by Fox News Digital.

At the end of 2021, Florida’s GOP voter registration numbers officially overtook the state’s Democratic Party, giving Republicans the lead in a state that regularly turns red.

Now Florida Republicans outnumber Democrats for the first time by more than 100,000 voters, both in new registrants and party changes, according to internal numbers from Gov. Ron DeSantis’ re-election campaign exclusively. obtained by Fox News Digital.

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A spokesperson for DeSantis’ campaign told Fox News Digital that the increase in Republican voters topped 101,000 as of Tuesday morning.

“There is no doubt that this historic gain is due to Governor Ron DeSantis,” Florida Republican Party Executive Director Helen Aguirre Ferre said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Florida voters appreciate the palpable sense of freedom he has created in our state.”

“Unemployment is below the national average, our schools are open, there are no closures and there are no masks. Voters recognize the governor as a champion for families and businesses,” continued Aguirre Ferré. “Our voter registration numbers are impressive, but a net change of 363,000? That’s unprecedented.”

A senior adviser to DeSantis’ re-election campaign told Fox News Digital that registered Republicans in Florida have increased by 363,000 since 2018, when DeSantis took office in the state.

Additionally, the rise in registered Republican voters has continued for nearly two years, with Republicans outpacing Democrats in new voter registrations in 21 of the past 22 months, the adviser said.

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Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried is a Democratic candidate for governor of Florida this year.
(Reuters)

The surge in Florida Republican voter registration has continued throughout President Biden’s first year in office.

In September 2021, Democrats had a lead of just 24,000 voters, and Republicans took the lead by about 6,000 voters in November 2021.

“When I was elected governor, we had 280,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans in the state of Florida,” DeSantis said in November 2021. “Today, and this will probably be fully publicized very soon, for the first time in Florida’s history, we have overtaken the Democrats.There are more registered Republicans in Florida than Democrats.

Voters cast their ballots at a polling place on November 2, 2021 in Miami, Florida.
(Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

According to internal numbers, Republicans also won over Democrats in the traditionally blue county of Miami-Dade. Currently, the Democrats hold the county lead with 589,429 registered voters compared to the Republicans’ 426,861, which is a difference of about 162,500.

Several factors could play into the change, including inflation, COVID-19 protocols, several controversial policies like police defunding and critical race theory, as well as the state’s growing population which happened during the pandemic.

The Florida Democratic Party did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

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Additionally, the Florida primary elections are closed, which means any independent who wishes to vote in the primary election must register with one of the two parties.

Each party has over 5 million voters and the total number of registered voters in Florida is over 14 million individuals. Independents remain Sunshine State’s fastest growing bloc of voters.