Numbers Don't Lie: Dem Prospects for November Keep Improving

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 5, 2008

TALLAHASSEE - On the heels of a disastrous legislative session that exposed a stumbling, divided Republican Party in Florida, news stories today reveal two key voter registration milestones that may mark the beginning of the end for the GOP's reign in Florida.

Republicans have won in Florida largely on the strength of their support among Hispanics and in the pivotal I-4 corridor. However, new voter registration figures indicate Florida Democrats are securing advantages among both of these key voting demographics.

For the first time on record, Hispanic Democrats are expected to outnumber Hispanic Republicans in Florida, with the month of April as the likely tipping point of a steady trend that first made headlines when Democrats won the emerging voting block statewide in 2006. A Politico feature story detailed the shift, calling it "a powerful symbol at a key moment." [Politico.com, 5/5/08]

A similarly momentous has occurred in Pinellas County, the western end of the I-4 corridor and the birthplace of the Republican Party of Florida. The latest voter registration figures show Democratic voters outnumber their GOP neighbors for the first time since 1984.

"Some Republicans will look at this as a little blip on the radar screen and expect it to return to normal, but I think 'normal' has passed," University of South Florida Professor Darryl Paulson, a Republican, told the Tampa Tribune. "Demographics dictate politics, and demographics are trending Democratic." [Tampa Tribune, 5/5/08]

"Numbers don't lie. They're proof that our wins over the past two years in the most Republican parts of the state aren't flukes," Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Karen L. Thurman said. "The latest legislative session is perhaps the most glaring example of why the people are Florida want change. They are tired of being ignored by the Republicans they elected to work for them."

Click here to read the Politico story, "Hispanics May Put Florida In Play for Dems."

Click here to read the Tampa Tribune story, "GOP No Longer Majority in Pinellas."

While the Republicans still control the state government, in the past two years, Democrats have picked up a Cabinet Seat, nine State House seats, two Congressional seats and claimed victory in a host of municipal elections.

Hispanic leaders continue to emerge; State Reps. Luis Garcia and Darren Soto are strong voices for the Party who won seats in the battlegrounds of Little Havana and Central Florida respectively.

"A historic moment. This is just the beginning," Pinellas County Democratic Party Chairwoman Toni Molinaro said.

In South Florida three Democrats are challenging the single-issue trio of Cuban-American Republicans in Congress for the first time. Former Hialeah Mayor Raul Martinez, former Miami-Dade Democratic Party Chairman Joe Garcia and businesswoman Annette Taddeo each outraised their opponents in the first quarter of this year.