The Florida Democratic Party (FDP) is the affiliate of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, headquartered in

Tallahassee Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2020, the population ...

. Former

mayor of Miami Below is a list of Mayors of the City of Miami, Florida, United States. List of mayors See also * Government of the City of Miami * * Timeline of Miami * List of mayors of Miami-Dade County, Florida, 1964–present * Miami City Hall Ref ...

Manny Diaz Sr. is the current chair.

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...

, the first territorial governor of Florida in 1821, co-founded the Democratic Party. After Florida achieved statehood, the party dominated state politics until the 1950s, after which Florida became a

swing state In American politics, the term swing state (also known as battleground state or purple state) refers to any state that could reasonably be won by either the Democratic or Republican candidate in a statewide election, most often referring to pres ...

. Since the passage of the

Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Pres ...

, Florida Democrats have prioritized advocating Medicaid expansion in the state, a policy that would provide a federally subsidized health insurance plan to approximately one million Floridians.

History

The Florida Democratic Party has historically dominated Florida's state and local politics.

, the first territorial governor of Florida in 1821, co-founded the

. As Florida moved from territory to statehood status, FDP emerged from the

locofoco The Locofocos (also Loco Focos or Loco-focos) were a faction of the Democratic Party in American politics that existed from 1835 until the mid-1840s. History The faction, originally named the Equal Rights Party, was created in New York City as a ...

John Milton John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet and intellectual. His 1667 epic poem '' Paradise Lost'', written in blank verse and including over ten chapters, was written in a time of immense religious flux and political ...

led the party, and became governor of the state, during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

era. There were no

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

governors from 1877 until 1967, when Claude R. Kirk, a Republican from

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

, was sworn in as governor of Florida. Florida politics was largely dominated by the Democrats until

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

Southern strategy In American politics, the Southern strategy was a Republican Party electoral strategy to increase political support among white voters in the South by appealing to racism against African Americans. As the civil rights movement and dismantling of ...

, which took advantage of objections to the advances of the

Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...

which resulted in a regional political realignment for the South. After Nixon's victory in 1968, the state voted Democratic in only four presidential elections: 1976 (

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

), 1996 (

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

), 2008 (

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

), and 2012 (

). The presidential election in 2000 was decided by a margin of 537 votes out of approximately six million cast in the state, earning

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

the presidency over

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic Part ...

. The

Florida Senate The Florida Senate is the upper house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida House of Representatives being the lower house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopted in ...

was dominated by Democrats until 1992, when a majority of Republicans was elected. The Florida House of Representatives turned Republican after the November 1996 election. The Florida Legislature became the first legislature in any of the states of the former Confederacy to come under complete Republican control when the Republicans gained control of the House and Senate in the 1996 election. Since the passage of the

, Florida Democrats have prioritized advocating Medicaid expansion in the state, a policy that would provide a federally subsidized healthcare plan to approximately one million Floridians.

Governance

The current chairman of the FDP is former

Mayor of Miami Below is a list of Mayors of the City of Miami, Florida, United States. List of mayors See also * Government of the City of Miami * * Timeline of Miami * List of mayors of Miami-Dade County, Florida, 1964–present * Miami City Hall Ref ...

Manny Diaz Sr., who succeeded Terrie Rizzo on January 9, 2021.

List of chairs

Scott Maddox Scott Charles Maddox (born March 13, 1968) is an American politician. He was the mayor of Tallahassee, Florida, from 1995 to 1996 and from 1997 to 2005. Maddox is the former chair of the Florida Democratic Party and a former Tallahassee City Comm ...

(2003–2005): Maddox, the former mayor of

Tallahassee, Florida Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County, Florida, Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In ...

, served as FDP chairman from 2003 to 2006, leaving the post to run for governor. The Associated Press noted that while Democrats suffered electoral defeats during his tenure, party activists recognized he had built up the party's infrastructure and volunteer base." * Karen Thurman (2005–2010): Thurman, a former five-term member of Congress from Florida's 5th District, served from 2005 to 2010. She was elected chairman of the FDP in 2005, succeeding Scott Maddox, who resigned in order to seek the Democratic nomination for governor. Thurman resigned on November 12, 2010, following the midterm elections. * Rod Smith (2010–2013): In November 2010, Smith was elected chairman of the Florida Democratic Party (FDP), succeeding Karen Thurman who resigned on November 12, 2010, following the midterm elections. Smith, a former Alachua County state prosecutor and state senator from the 14th district, became chair following his unsuccessful bid for lieutenant governor in 2010. Smith's term expired in January 2013, when he was succeeded by Allison Tant. * Allison Tant (2014–2016): In December 2013, former lobbyist, philanthropist, and Democratic fundraiser Allison Tant announced she would seek the chairmanship of the FDP. She was elected in January 2014, after a closely contested race against Hillsborough state committeeman Alan Clendenin. After large national losses in 2014,

Debbie Wasserman Schultz Deborah Wasserman Schultz (née Wasserman; born September 27, 1966) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative from , first elected to Congress in 2004. A member of the Democratic Party, she is a former chair of the Democrat ...

commissioned the Victory Task Force to "take a deep dive" to figure out what went wrong in 2014. Similarly, Chair Tant created the state-level LEAD Task Force, to learn the lessons of the statewide Democratic defeat. *Stephen Bittel (2016–2017): Bittel, who founded Terranova in 1980, is still an active Democrat in the state. He was chosen primarily for his fundraising ability after the 2016 election, but many critics noted his ability to curry influence with his immense wealth. In November 2017, he was accused of inappropriate office behavior, and subsequently left his role. *Terrie Rizzo (2017–2021): In December 2017, Rizzo was elected to replace Stephen Bittel, defeating Stacey Patel in an 830–291 vote. During Rizzo's term as chair and as a consequence of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the party focused on developing web products and established a department for

social media marketing Social media marketing is the use of social media platforms and websites to promote a product or service. Although the terms e-marketing and digital marketing are still dominant in academia, social media marketing is becoming more popular for ...

. * Manny Diaz (2021–present), In January 2021, Diaz was elected with 54% from party leaders to replace Terrie Rizzo. Diaz was elected partly to bring outreach from the Cuban-American community, which was a voting bloc that helped Donald Trump win the state in the

2020 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2020 lists the national/federal elections held in 2020 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 January: **C ...

House leaders

* Mark S. Pafford (2014–2016) *

Janet Cruz Janet Cruz (born July 7, 1956) is an American politician who formerly served as a Democratic member of the Florida Senate, representing part of Hillsborough County and Tampa from 2018 until 2022 before losing re-election, as well as four terms ...

(2016–2018) *

Kionne McGhee Kionne L. McGhee (born November 23, 1977) is an American Democratic politician from Florida who has served as a member of the Miami-Dade County Commission since 2020. Previously, he served in the Florida House of Representatives from 2012 to 20 ...

(2018–2020) * Bobby DuBose (2020–2022) *

Evan Jenne Evan Boyd Jenne (born September 4, 1977) is an American Democratic Party (United States), Democratic politician who had served as a member of the Florida House of Representatives, representing the 99th District, which included most of Hollywood, F ...

(2022–present)

Organization

The State Executive Committee of the Florida Democratic Party is organized into six standing committees. Standing committees include: the Rules Committee, the Judicial Council, the Diversity and Inclusion Committee, the Committee on Clubs, Organizations, and Caucuses, the Legislative Liaison Committee, and the Campaign Committee.

Platform

The Florida Democratic Party has adopted a platform that covers a wide range of topics and issues under the following headings: *Access to Healthcare *An Economy That Works for Everyone *Quality Education *Protecting our Environment *Immigration Reform *Preventing Gun Violence *Civil Rights *Government Accountability *Protecting Voting Rights *Women and Families

Current elected officials

The following is a list of Democratic statewide, federal, and legislative officeholders as of October 23, 2018:

Members of Congress

U.S. Senate

*None Both of Florida's

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

seats have been held by Republicans since 2019.

Bill Nelson Clarence William Nelson II (born September 29, 1942) is an American politician and attorney serving as the administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Nelson previously served as a United States Senator from Flo ...

was the last Democrat to represent Florida in the U.S. Senate. First elected in 2000, Nelson lost his bid for a fourth term in 2018 to Republican governor Rick Scott.

U.S. House of Representatives

Out of the 27 seats Florida is apportioned in the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

, 11 are held by Democrats:

State

Statewide officials

Democrats control one of the four elected statewide offices: *

Commissioner of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister ...

Nikki Fried Nicole Heather Fried ( ; born December 13, 1977) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 12th Florida Commissioner of Agriculture, Florida commissioner of agriculture from 2019 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party (United Sta ...

State legislative leaders

Senate Minority Leader The positions of majority leader and minority leader are held by two United States senators and members of the party leadership of the United States Senate. They serve as the chief spokespersons for their respective political parties holding ...

Lauren Book Lauren Frances Book (born October 12, 1984) is an American politician and former educator who has served in the Florida Senate since 2016, representing parts of Broward County. A member of the Democratic Party, she has been the Senate's minority ...

House Minority Leader Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives, also known as floor leaders, are congresspeople who coordinate legislative initiatives and serve as the chief spokespersons for their parties on the House floor. These leaders are el ...

State Senate

Democrats hold a 16-seat minority in the 40-member

: *SD-03:

Loranne Ausley Loranne Ausley (born October 16, 1963) is an American attorney and Democratic politician from Tallahassee, Florida. She served as a member of the Florida Senate from 2020 until her defeat in 2022, representing Calhoun, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, ...

*SD-06:

Audrey Gibson Audrey Gibson (born March 15, 1956) is an American politician serving as a Democratic member of the Florida Senate, representing the 6th district, which includes sections of downtown Jacksonville in Duval County, since 2016. She previously repr ...

*SD-11:

Randolph Bracy Randolph Bracy III (born April 23, 1977) is an American politician who is a member of the Florida Senate from the 11th district. Bracy's district includes parts of central and northwest Orange County. Bracy is the first African American to serve a ...

*SD-13:

Linda Stewart Linda Stewart (born November 23, 1948) is a Democratic Party (United States), Democratic member of the Florida Senate, representing the 13th district, which includes northeast and central Orange County, Florida, Orange County, since 2016. She pr ...

*SD-15: Victor Torres *SD-18:

*SD-19:

Darryl Rouson Darryl Ervin Rouson (born July 20, 1955) is a Democratic member of the Florida Senate who has represented the 16th district (The 19th district until 2022), which includes parts of Pinellas and Hillsborough Counties from downtown St. Petersbur ...

*SD-29: Tina Polsky *SD-30: Bobby Powell *SD-31:

Lori Berman Lori Berman (born June 27, 1958) is a Democratic member of the Florida Senate, representing parts of central Palm Beach County since being elected in an April 2018 special election. She previously served four terms in the Florida House of Repres ...

*SD-32:

(''Minority Leader'') *SD-33:

Rosalind Osgood Rosalind Osgood is an American politician and a Democratic member of the Florida Senate. She is president and CEO of non-profit Mount Olive Development Corp and served on the Broward County School Board for more than a decade. Early life A native ...

*SD-34:

Gary Farmer Gary Dale Farmer (born June 12, 1953) is a Canadian actor and musician. He is perhaps best known for his role as Nobody in the films ''Dead Man'' (1995) and '' Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai'' (1999), and for his role in '' Smoke Signals'' (1 ...

*SD-35:

Shevrin Jones Shevrin D. Jones (born October 12, 1983) is an American politician from the state of Florida. He was elected to the Florida State Senate in 2020 Florida Senate election, 2020 to represent the 35th District. He previously was a Democratic Party (Un ...

*SD-38:

Jason Pizzo Jason William Barnet Pizzo is an American attorney and politician who served as a member of the Florida Senate for the 38th district from 2018 to 2022. Prior to his election, Pizzo was an Assistant State Attorney, with the Miami Dade State Attorn ...

*SD-40:

Annette Taddeo Annette Joanne Taddeo-Goldstein (née Taddeo; born April 7, 1967) is a Colombian-American politician and businesswoman serving as a member of the Florida Senate from the 40th district. She was an unsuccessful candidate for several elections star ...

State House

Democrats hold a 47-seat minority in the 120-seat

Florida House of Representatives The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida Senate being the upper house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopted ...

: *HD-08:

Ramon Alexander Ramon J. Alexander (born October 19, 1984) is an American politician who served as a member of the Florida House of Representatives from 2016 to 2022. He represented the 8th district, which includes Gadsden County and sections of Tallahassee in L ...

*HD-09: Allison Tant *HD-13:

Tracie Davis Tracie Davis (born May 6, 1970, in Jacksonville, Florida) is an American politician and former teacher who currently serves as the Senator for District 5 in the Florida Senate as a member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. ...

*HD-14:

Angie Nixon Angela Nixon is an American politician and community organizer from Jacksonville, Florida who defeated incumbent Kimberly Daniels, who was seeking re-election to the Florida House of Representatives District 14 (part of Duval County), in the D ...

*HD-20:

Yvonne Hayes Hinson Yvonne Hayes Hinson is an American politician who currently serves as the representative for Florida House of Representatives District 20 as a member of the Democratic Party. Career She was elected to the State House in 2020. She endorsed Ch ...

*HD-30: Joy Goff-Marcil *HD-43:

Kristen Arrington Kristen Aston Arrington is an American politician and businesswoman serving as a member of the Florida House of Representatives since 2020. Early life and education Arrington was born in Holiday, Florida and graduated from Osceola High School ...

*HD-44: Geraldine Thompson *HD-45:

Kamia Brown Kamia Brown (born October 24, 1980) is an American politician who served as a member of the Florida House of Representatives for the 45th district from 2016 to 2022. Brown was an unsuccessful candidate for the Florida Senate The Florida Sen ...

*HD-46:

Travaris McCurdy Travaris L. McCurdy (born March 1, 1984) is an American politician and former member of the Florida House of Representatives from the 46th district. Early life and education McCurdy was born in Orlando, Florida. He earned a Bachelor of Arts d ...

*HD-47:

Anna Eskamani Anna Vishkaee Eskamani (born May 20, 1990) is an American politician who is the member of the Florida House of Representatives from the 42nd district, encompassing parts of Orlando, Florida, Orlando along with Maitland, Florida, Maitland, Winter ...

*HD-48: Daisy Morales *HD-49: Carlos Guillermo Smith *HD-59:

Andrew Learned Andrew P. Learned is an American politician. He is a Democrat who represented the 59th district in the Florida House of Representatives for a single two-year term before losing re-election in 2022. Early life and education Learned holds a Bach ...

*HD-61: Dianne Hart *HD-62: Susan Valdes *HD-63:

Fentrice Driskell Fentrice DeNell Driskell (born March 3, 1979) is an American lawyer and politician who is the Representative in the Florida House of Representatives from the 63rd House district in Hillsborough County. She is Of Counsel at the law firm of Carlt ...

*HD-68:

Ben Diamond Benjamin Frank Diamond (born October 9, 1978) is an American attorney and politician serving as a member of the Florida House of Representatives from the 68th district, which includes most of the city of St. Petersburg, Florida, Pinellas County ...

*HD-70: Michele Rayner *HD-81: Kelly Skidmore *HD-86:

Matt Willhite Matt Willhite (born July 23, 1971) is a Democratic politician from Florida who has served as a member of the Florida House of Representatives since 2016. He represents the 86th District, which includes Greenacres, Haverhill, Loxahatchee Groves ...

*HD-87:

David Silvers David Silvers is a Democratic member of the Florida Legislature representing the state's 87th House district, which includes part of Palm Beach County Palm Beach County is a county located in the southeastern part of Florida and lies directl ...

*HD-88:

Jervonte Edmonds Jervonte Edmonds (born June 11, 1991) is an American politician. He serves as a Democratic Party (United States), Democratic member for the 88th district of the Florida House of Representatives. Edmonds was born in Titusville, Florida. He atten ...

*HD-90:

Joseph Casello Joseph Anthony Casello is a Democratic member of the Florida Legislature representing the State's 90th House district. He resides in Boynton Beach, Florida Boynton Beach is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is situated ab ...

*HD-91: Emily Slosberg *HD-92: Patricia Hawkins-Williams *HD-95:

Anika Omphroy Anika Tene Omphroy is an American politician serving as a member of the Florida House of Representatives since 2018. Omphroy represents the State's 95th House District, which includes part of Broward County Broward County ( , ) is a county i ...

*HD-96: Christine Hunschofsky *HD-97: Dan Daley *HD-98: Michael Gottlieb *HD-99:

(''Minority Leader'') *HD-100: Joe Geller *HD-101: Marie Woodson *HD-102:

Felicia Robinson Felicia Simone Robinson (born November 4, 1970) is an American politician and educator serving as a member of the Florida House of Representatives from the 102nd district. She assumed office on November 3, 2020. Early life and education Robinso ...

*HD-104:

Robin Bartleman Robin Bartleman (born August 27, 1972) is an American legislator and educator serving as a member of the Florida House of Representatives from the 103rd district. She assumed office on November 3, 2020. She is a Democrat, supporting affordable hou ...

*HD-107: Christopher Benjamin *HD-108: Dotie Joseph *HD-109: James Bush III *HD-112: Nicholas Duran *HD-113: Michael Grieco *HD-117:

Kevin Chambliss Kevin D. Chambliss (born June 8, 1981) is an American politician serving as a member of the Florida House of Representatives from the 117th district. He assumed office on November 3, 2020. Early life and education Chambliss was born in Columbu ...

Mayoral offices

Some of the state's major cities have Democratic mayors. As of 2019, Democrats control the mayor's offices in five of Florida's ten largest cities: * Tampa (3):

Jane Castor Jane Castor (born December 7, 1960) is an American politician and former police chief serving as the 59th mayor of Tampa, Florida. She was the first woman and first openly gay person to serve as Chief of Police of the Tampa Police Department ...

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...

(4):

Buddy Dyer John Hugh "Buddy" Dyer (born August 7, 1958) is an American politician who is the 32nd Mayor of Orlando. First elected in 2003, he is Orlando's longest-serving mayor. He is a member of the Florida Democratic Party. Previously he represented Orl ...

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

(5):

Ken Welch Kenneth T. Welch (born August 15, 1964) is an American politician serving as mayor of St. Petersburg, Florida. A member of the Democratic Party, Welch served on the county commission of Pinellas County, Florida. Welch is the city’s first Afric ...

(7): John Dailey *

Fort Lauderdale A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

(9):

Dean Trantalis Dean J. Trantalis (born October 14, 1953) is an American politician and mayor of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Before his election as mayor, Trantalis served as a city commissioner for Fort Lauderdale from 2009 to 2017. Biography Trantalis was bo ...

Former Florida governors and U.S. senators

Governors

United States senators

References

External links

Florida Democratic PartyFlorida College DemocratsDemocratic Women's Club of FloridaDemocratic Caribbean Caucus of FloridaDemocratic Black Caucus of Florida
{{Authority control Democratic Party (United States) by state Politics of Florida Political parties in Florida 1834 establishments in Florida Territory Political parties established in 1834