DeSantis said those who come to Florida 'appreciate' the state's policies
Every state is a border state under Joe Biden: Ron DeSantis
Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis joins ‘Sunday Morning Futures’ to discuss his immigration lawsuit against the Biden administration, blue state residents moving to Florida and the state’s protections against squatters.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis believes Democrats don't stand a chance in the Sunshine State going forward. This comes as reports indicate registered GOP voters now outpace Democrats by nearly 900,000.
"You're talking about a million plus voter registration shift," DeSantis told Fox News' Maria Bartiromo, claiming older numbers indicated Republicans were behind their Democratic adversaries by nearly 300,000 registered voters in 2018.
"Part of that, I think, is a response locally where people are more likely to switch from Democrat to Republican in Florida, nonparty to Republican than vice-versa. That's been an important component of it, but I do think that migration has skewed amongst people who come to Florida, not because they want to change the policies to reflect in Illinois or California or New York, but because they appreciate how Florida has done it differently from where they're coming from."
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Welcome to Florida sign. (Jim Steinfeldt/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
Local reports have affirmed DeSantis' claims, including one report from USA Today that alluded to the state's former identity as the nation's most significant swing state, perhaps most notably for its role in the 2000 presidential matchup between George W. Bush and then-Vice President Al Gore.
"Republicans now hold the biggest advantage in voter registration either major party has held in almost four decades," the report read, noting that the GOP reached an 851,417-voter lead as of last month – the most significant lead by either of the two major parties since Democrats' dominance in the late 1980s.
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Florida Governor and 2024 Republican Presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis speaks at the Republican Party of Iowa's 2023 Lincoln Dinner at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines, Iowa, on July 28, 2023. ((Photo by SERGIO FLORES/AFP via Getty Images))
The state's panhandle – a vibrantly red area – is suspected to further propel Republicans to victory this November, perhaps making Florida an "afterthought" as the report speculates.
DeSantis, with an X post last Thursday, cited local outlet Florida's Voice, who compiled the data indicating Republican support has climbed even further to 889,569 as of April 4.
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Former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden will face off for the second time this November, but many speculate Florida will be solidly red. (Getty Images)
In that same amount of time, Democrats reportedly lost 1,000 voters.
"Florida is off the board. It is a Republican state," DeSantis said.
"We used to be a one-point state every election hung on. ‘How would Florida go?’ That is not true anymore, and I think that's a good thing for the party."
Taylor Penley is an associate editor with Fox News.
