Kamala Harris Launches Ground Game in Florida Ahead of 2024 Presidential Election
Kamala Harris, current Vice President, turns to grassroots activism in Florida in a bid to turn the tides of the impending Election 2024 against former President Donald Trump. With 100 days left to the key Election Day, Democrats in Florida are gearing up for an immense show of solidarity and power.
100 Days of Action in Florida
Campaigning carries significant weight in Florida due to its allocation of 30 presidential electoral votes. As such, Democrats will begin campaigning rigorously across cities from Pensacola to Miami starting this weekend. Activities planned for the rally include training sessions, phone banks, an ice cream social, and a mile-long golf cart caravan — marking the start of Harris’s “100 days of action weekend”.
The strategy driving this campaign is to mobilize the influx of volunteers that followed Harris’s announcement as a presidential candidate. The ultimate goal is to broaden the Democrats’ base, says officials from the Florida Democratic Party and Harris’s campaign team.
Tapping into the Moderates: Potential Game Changers
Nearly 30% of Florida voters are not affiliated with either the Republican or Democratic parties. In the face of polls showing Trump ahead by 8 points in Florida, Democrats are looking to persuade these unaffiliated voters to help them flip the state in their favor. The Harris campaign in Florida, under the direction of Jasmine Burney Clark, is ready to put up a fight. Clark’s unwavering determination is echoed by the 7,000 Floridians who registered as campaign volunteers in the three days following Harris’s candidacy repot.
Despite Republican dominance in terms of voter registration, Democrats believe the influx of volunteers is an encouraging sign. For them, it’s reminiscent of the groundswell seen during former President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign.
Harris’s Appeal: ‘Energy’ and Policy Differences
Democrats, including St. Petersburg volunteer Andrea Evans-Dixon, believe that Harris brings an “energy” that has been missing from the Democratic Party. She is campaigning on numerous key issues, including reproductive rights, Trump’s legal history, and the economic policies embedded in Project 2025 — a controversial blueprint created by former Trump advisors that Harris insists would harm the middle class.
Florida Democratic Party chair Nikki Fried believes that the distinctions between Harris’s policy proposals and Trump’s will be highlighted, especially during phone calls to no-party affiliated voters and inactive voters in a bid to persuade them to cast their votes for the Democrats.
Engaging The Disengaged and NPAs
The campaign is focused on reactivating disengaged voters and recruiting no-party-affiliated voters (NPAs) to the Democratic fold. Tara Newsom, a political scientist at St. Petersburg College, explains that NPAs and disengaged voters generally lean moderate and are upset with the current state of politics. According to Newsom, their concerns predominantly revolve around economic and education issues — areas where the Trump campaign appears to fall short.
The differences in approach and priorities between Harris and Trump make the former a stark contrast, offering a fresh approach that Newsom believes will appeal to voters who want a change from the ultra-right messaging that Trump has favored.
Preparations for ‘Action weekend’
The Democrats’ “action weekend” aims to foster a sense of community among the new volunteers. Activities for the weekend include volunteer meet-and-greets, voter outreach through phone banks, town hall meetings, and canvassing. Crucial to Harris’s campaign, however, is the push to recast inactive voters and persuade unaffiliated voters to join the Democratic side.
The weekend’s events kickoff with meet-and-greets in Pensacola, Fort Walton Beach, and Panama City. Gadsden County Commissioner Brenda Holt will host a “Black Leaders Roundtable” in Quincy. The Harris campaign will deploy 1,765 volunteers to 16 phone banks and organize a series of outreach initiatives, including canvassing and roundtable discussions. The hope is that these efforts will prepare new volunteers for the fall campaign and successfully sway voters.
