According to internal Florida GOP numbers, there are now more registered Republicans than Democrats in the state. Gov. Ron DeSantis addressed an audience at the National Conference of State Legislatures on Friday to break the news.
"When I got elected governor, we had 280,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans in the state of Florida. Today, and it will probably be fully publicized very soon, for the first time in the history of Florida we have overtaken Democrats. There are more registered Republicans in Florida than Democrats."
In 2008, registered Democrats outnumbered Republicans by almost 700,000 voters, according to the Miami Herald. This September, Democrats had a lead of 24,000 voters.
Florida GOP Chair Joe Gruters said that although data conducted by the party indicates they are now ahead, it likely won't be reflected publicly until officially released by the Florida Division of Elections in December. Gruters attributed this to a lag in reporting data.
"According to our numbers internally, we think that we’ve unofficially passed the Democrats," Gruters said.
Although officially a purple state, Florida has been under consistent statewide GOP control for over 20 years. The reversal of the registration advantage serves as another headache for Florida Democrats.
For the GOP, this serves as another victory as it seeks to consolidate further control over the state.
"The level of enthusiasm in support of registering Republicans is unprecedented, and this is a true milestone moment in Florida’s history," the Republican Party of Florida’s executive director, Helen Aguirre Ferré, said.
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