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Broward County, FL (my home) is the last safe liberal bastion of South Florida
Broward County as long been the most Democratic county in Florida, and it continues that tradition to this day. It seems like we will be the lone Democratic bastion of South Florida in the foreseeable future.
The three Democratic strongholds of Florida, historically, up to 2020 were Miami-Dade County, Broward County and Palm Beach County. As a Democrat, you had to turn all your numbers in these counties if you ever expect to win a statewide election.
In 2022, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties flipped red and voted for Ron DeSantis. The chatter that I recall at the time was that it was a fluke because low Democratic turnout (which was true, Dem turnout was extremely low) because no one was motivated to vote for Republican-turned Independent-turned Democrat, Charlie Crist.
1) Miami-Dade is solidly red now with 55% voting for Trump and 54% voting for Rick Scott.
2) Palm Beach County is just barely blue this cycle with Kamala Harris edging it now with 49.9% of the vote and Trump with 49.2%.
3) Then there is Broward County which Kamala Harris had a clear win at 58% to Trump's 41%.
Although we didn't have many local races on the ballot in Broward County, the few Democrats that were on the ballot won convincingly. Wasn't even close.
From what I can tell looking at the election map of Florida, so many people have moved here over the last 4 years that even our major Democratic-leaning cities and counties are turning red.
The Democratic prosecutor that was suspended by DeSantis in Hillsborough County (Tampa area) ran for re-election but lost his election. Hillsborough County has long been a Democratic-leaning county and that is no longer the case. In 2022 and 2024, Hillsborough County went red.
Osceola County (just south of Orlando, FL) was a Democratic-leaning county. In 2022 and 2024, Osceola County went red.
With the exception of Broward County, all of them mostly follow the same pattern:
2012 - Votes a Democrat for President; Votes a Democrat for US Senate (Bill Belson)
2014 - Votes a Democrat for governor (Charlie Crist)
2016 - Votes a Democrat for President; Votes a Democrat for US Senate, except Hillsborough County flips to Marco Rubio
2018 - Votes a Democrat for governor (Andrew Gillum); Votes a Democrat for US Senate (Bill Belson)
2020 - Votes a Democrat for President
2022 - Flips to a Republican for governor (Ron DeSantis); Flips to a Republican for Senate (Rubio), Val Demings barely hangs on to Palm Beach County
Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Hillsborough, and Osceola were the reliably blue areas where Democrats had to run up the numbers to have a chance at statewide (with a couple of others). With the exception of Broward, these counties have largely flipped red.
Before COVID, there was not a world where these counties were flipping. It may a tiny bit of people that have crossed over to vote for Republicans. However, the biggest driver of that change is Republicans moving here by the droves since 2020, which probably wouldn't have happened if Dems had won the governorship in 2018. Florida has become the #1 spot for taking in America's biggest snowflakes like Donald Trump. Our major metros aren't even reliably blue anymore.
The three Democratic strongholds of Florida, historically, up to 2020 were Miami-Dade County, Broward County and Palm Beach County. As a Democrat, you had to turn all your numbers in these counties if you ever expect to win a statewide election.
In 2022, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties flipped red and voted for Ron DeSantis. The chatter that I recall at the time was that it was a fluke because low Democratic turnout (which was true, Dem turnout was extremely low) because no one was motivated to vote for Republican-turned Independent-turned Democrat, Charlie Crist.
1) Miami-Dade is solidly red now with 55% voting for Trump and 54% voting for Rick Scott.
2) Palm Beach County is just barely blue this cycle with Kamala Harris edging it now with 49.9% of the vote and Trump with 49.2%.
3) Then there is Broward County which Kamala Harris had a clear win at 58% to Trump's 41%.
Although we didn't have many local races on the ballot in Broward County, the few Democrats that were on the ballot won convincingly. Wasn't even close.
From what I can tell looking at the election map of Florida, so many people have moved here over the last 4 years that even our major Democratic-leaning cities and counties are turning red.
The Democratic prosecutor that was suspended by DeSantis in Hillsborough County (Tampa area) ran for re-election but lost his election. Hillsborough County has long been a Democratic-leaning county and that is no longer the case. In 2022 and 2024, Hillsborough County went red.
Osceola County (just south of Orlando, FL) was a Democratic-leaning county. In 2022 and 2024, Osceola County went red.
With the exception of Broward County, all of them mostly follow the same pattern:
2012 - Votes a Democrat for President; Votes a Democrat for US Senate (Bill Belson)
2014 - Votes a Democrat for governor (Charlie Crist)
2016 - Votes a Democrat for President; Votes a Democrat for US Senate, except Hillsborough County flips to Marco Rubio
2018 - Votes a Democrat for governor (Andrew Gillum); Votes a Democrat for US Senate (Bill Belson)
2020 - Votes a Democrat for President
2022 - Flips to a Republican for governor (Ron DeSantis); Flips to a Republican for Senate (Rubio), Val Demings barely hangs on to Palm Beach County
Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Hillsborough, and Osceola were the reliably blue areas where Democrats had to run up the numbers to have a chance at statewide (with a couple of others). With the exception of Broward, these counties have largely flipped red.
Before COVID, there was not a world where these counties were flipping. It may a tiny bit of people that have crossed over to vote for Republicans. However, the biggest driver of that change is Republicans moving here by the droves since 2020, which probably wouldn't have happened if Dems had won the governorship in 2018. Florida has become the #1 spot for taking in America's biggest snowflakes like Donald Trump. Our major metros aren't even reliably blue anymore.
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