Andrew Jackson, the first territorial governor of Florida in 1821, co-founded the Democratic Party. After Florida achieved statehood, the party dominated state politics until theReconstruction era following theCivil War, when Black citizens gained the right to vote. The party regained its dominance[clarify] until the 1950s, after which Florida became aswing state until the 2020s.
Andrew Jackson was the first Territorial Governor of Florida in 1821.
The Florida Democratic Party has historically dominated Florida's state and local politics for long periods.Andrew Jackson, the first territorial governor of Florida in 1821, co-founded theDemocratic Party. As Florida moved from territory to statehood status, the Florida Democratic Party emerged from theLocofocos.[3]John Milton led the party, and became governor of the state, during theCivil War era.[4]
Florida politics was largely dominated by the Democrats untilRichard Nixon'sSouthern strategy, which took advantage of objections to the advances of theCivil Rights Movement which resulted in a regional politicalrealignment for the South. After Nixon's victory in 1968, the state voted Democratic in only four presidential elections: 1976 (Jimmy Carter), 1996 (Bill Clinton), 2008 (Barack Obama), and 2012 (Barack Obama). The presidential election in 2000 was decided by a margin of 537 votes out of approximately six million cast in the state, earningGeorge W. Bush the presidency overAl Gore.
TheFlorida Senate 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 formerConfederacy to come under complete Republican control when the Republicans gained control of the House and Senate in the 1996 election.
Since the passage of theAffordable Care Act, 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.[5][6]
The current chairwoman of the Florida Democratic Party is former agriculture commissionerNikki Fried, who succeeded formermayor of MiamiManny Diaz Sr. on February 25, 2023.
Scott Maddox (2003–2005): Maddox, the former mayor ofTallahassee, Florida, served as chairman of the Florida Democratic Party 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."[7]
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 Florida Democratic Party 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.[8]
Rod Smith (2010–2013): In November 2010, Smith was elected chairman of the Florida Democratic Party, succeeding Karen Thurman who resigned on November 12, 2010, following the midterm elections.[9] 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.[10] Smith's term expired in January 2013, when he was succeeded by Allison Tant.[11]
Allison Tant (2014–2016): In December 2013, former lobbyist, philanthropist, and Democratic fundraiser[12] Allison Tant announced she would seek the chairmanship of the Florida Democratic Party.[13] She was elected in January 2014, after a closely contested race against Hillsborough state committeeman Alan Clendenin.[11] After large national losses in 2014,Debbie Wasserman Schultz commissioned the Victory Task Force to "take a deep dive" to figure out what went wrong in 2014.[14] Similarly, Chair Tant created the state-level LEAD Task Force, to learn the lessons of the statewide Democratic defeat.[14]
Stephen Bittel (2016–2017): Bittel, who founded Terranova in 1980, is still an active Democrat in the state.[15] 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.[16] 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.[17][18] During Rizzo's term as chair and as a consequence of theCOVID-19 pandemic, the party focused on developing web products[19][20][21][22] and established a department forsocial media marketing.[23]
Manny Diaz (2021–2023), 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 the2020 presidential election.[24] Diaz resigned after the 2022 midterms, which saw landslide victories and legislative supermajorities for Republicans in Florida.[25]
Nikki Fried (2023–present), On February 25, 2023, Fried was elected with 52% of the vote to fill the chair's vacancy after Diaz's resignation, defeating former state senatorAnnette Taddeo, Broward County Democratic Party chair Rick Hoye, and activist Carolina Ampudia.[26] Fried was elected after a primary defeat in the2022 Florida gubernatorial election the previous year. Nikki Fried was re-elected to a full four-year term as Chair of the Florida Democratic Party on January 24, 2025. She won re-election with 78% of the votes cast on the first ballot, continuing her leadership after initially being elected chair in 2023 to finish the previous term. This election confirmed her to lead the party for the next four years starting in 2025
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.[27]
Both of Florida'sU.S. Senate seats have been held byRepublicans since2019.Bill Nelson was the last Democrat to represent Florida in the U.S. Senate. First elected in2000, Nelson lost his bid for a fourth term in2018 to Republican governorRick Scott.
Florida has not elected a Democrat in a state-wide elected office since November 6, 2018, when Nikki Fried defeated Republican Matt Caldwell in 2018 and was elected Florida's 12th commissioner of Agriculture. While eligible to run for a second term, she instead chose to step down and mounted a challenge against Governor Ron DeSantis, in his own re-election for Governor of Florida. DeSantis would go on to retain his governorship by historic margins.
4,044,390[1]
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
