(NewsNation) — Democrats in Florida are concerned as Miami-Dade, the most populous county in Florida with over 1.5 million registered voters, might turn red.
The county is a Democratic stronghold, but early voting has indicated that Miami-Dade might be more red than blue. Some voters believe it’s a sign of support among the area’s Hispanic voters for incumbent Republican Gov. Ron Desantis and a lack of enthusiasm for his Democratic challenger: former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist.
“I believe that the Republicans have done a great job of fear-mongering and creating this idea that, that Democrats have become socialists for some reason, or that they’re communists, that they’re killing babies, and that they are doing the worst of the worst,” said Democratic candidate vying to represent Florida’s 26th congressional district Christine Olivo. “And it is not true.”
So far, through Wednesday, nearly 27% of GOP voters have cast their ballot compared to 21% for Democrats, with 14% identified as unaffiliated.
“We’ve reached out, you know, our message is the same no matter which community we speak to our message is the same,” Campaign Director for the Miami-Dade Republican Party Kevin Cooper said. “We’re the party of growth of opportunity and prosperity, and that if you come to this country, as a new immigrant, we want you to have the same wonderful economic advantages as everybody else…We want a beautiful economy for our people.”
If DeSantis takes Miami-Dade, he would be the first Republican to do so since Jeb Bush did back in 2002.