Tuesday is the special election for Florida House District 35. At this point, Democrats have turned in just a few hundred more vote by mail ballots than Republicans – this race is going to come down to the wire.
Check the volunteer hub for opportunities to get involved! Sign up to send some texts, make some calls, or knock on some doors.
This is the first step we can take to getting out the Republican supermajority in the legislature and taking back Florida.
Nikki Fried
Chair
Florida Democratic Party
ELECTION DAY IS THIS TUESDAY!
We have just ONE DAY to elect Tom Keen to the Florida State House on January 16th! President Joe Biden carried this seat by 5 points in 2020 and Democrats are going to Take Back HD-35 in 2024. To win on Election Night, we need each and every Democrat across the state rallying together!
Here’s how you can join us:
Joining us on the ground? Register HERE for Canvassing
Joining us virtually? Register HERE for phone banking
Election Day: SIGN UP TO BE PART OF THE ELECTION DAY TEAM
HD-35 Volunteer Hub
As always, you can find all the information you need to join our grassroots movement through our Volunteer Hub! Access volunteer opportunities such as phone banks, text banks, and canvasses all in one place, with regularly updated election information.
Get in Democrats, we’re going shopping!
It’s officially Election Year, so now is the perfect time to stock up on Florida Dems merch! Whether it’s a sweatshirt for our infamous cold fronts, a hat for our sunny days, or a Mugshot Mug to drink a café con leche, we have everything you need to rep democracy in style.
Check out the merch store today: https://store.floridadems.org/
Voter Registration
Your Voter Registration team is ready to hit the ground running in 2024. There are two major voter registration opportunities this month.
MLK Day – Monday, January 15, 2024
- Our team will be reaching out to DECs, Clubs, and Caucuses participating in MLK events across the state to ensure we are utilizing the opportunity to register voters at these events.
FDP Day of Action – Saturday, January 20, 2024
- We are pushing a voter registration day of action on Saturday, January 20, and are looking for DECs, Clubs, and Caucuses to join us in going to an event or high-volume traffic area in your county to register voters.
- Fill out the FDP Event Bank Form to let us know about your MLK events. (Bookmark this form as we will be using this throughout the year)
- Use this Mobilize VR Event Template to create your Voter Registration events for 2024.
Registering Voters with REACH
NEW REACH Training Video Series: Click Here
REACH Monthly Trainings
Every 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month at 6pm EST
FDP Reach Trainer Group: This group is open to anyone interested in becoming a member of our FDP Reach Trainer Group in the DEC who will be in charge of leading training in their county. This can be the Voter Coordinator, Data Coordinator, Reach Admin/Lead for your county or it could be one or all or another person altogether. Please email kris@floridadems.org if interested.
Download Reach: Download the Reach App by going to your App Store/Google Play and searching: “Reach – Progressive Organizing” (OR click here on your phone: https://www.reach.vote/download)
Weekly Talking Points January 15, 2024
House District 35 Election Day — Tuesday, January 16
Tomorrow is Election Day in House District 35. If you live in or near Orange or Osceola County, please use your social media channels to call out misinformation and amplify GOTV efforts for Tom Keen.
Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday
TOPLINE: As we remember the life and legacy of Dr. King, it’s our job to continue the fight for justice and equality for all.
- Ron’s extremist administration has consistently targeted the rights and freedoms of Black Floridians.
- Florida Republicans have gerrymandered away representation, made it harder to vote, and even tried to rewrite history by teaching our children that there were “personal benefits” to slavery.
- We all must do our part to help bend the “arc of the moral universe” towards justice — from speaking out against racist political agendas to standing up for the marginalized in our communities.
Iowa Caucuses
The Iowa Republican Caucuses take place on Monday, January 15.
TOPLINE: Ron’s obsession with his failing presidential campaign has to end.
- Ron forced Capitol employees to show up to work in severe weather that shut down the rest of the city, just so he could get back to the campaign trail faster.
- While the panhandle was reeling from tornado outbreaks and most of the state was under a State of Emergency, Ron was rushing back to his third place campaign in Iowa.
- Ron could be focusing on things that actually matter to Floridians, like healthcare, human rights, and the economy, but instead, he’s an absentee governor who cares more about media hits than policy solutions.
- Ron DeSantis will never be President of the United States, and his days on the campaign trail are numbered — it’s time for him to stop the stunts and drop out of the race.
2024 Florida Legislative Session
TOPLINE: 25 years of Republican leadership has been catastrophic for Floridians.
- Last year, Ron weaponized the legislature to prop up his presidential ambitions, passing hundreds of bills that made life worse for millions of Floridians — and his State of the State message was to “stay the course.”
- In 2024, they’ve already filed bills to eliminate civil rights for trans people, repeal post-Parkland gun safety laws, roll back protections against child labor, and make it even harder for people to vote.
- While Florida Republicans are wasting time in Tallahassee doing nothing to serve Floridians, Florida Democrats are fighting every day to make Florida a safer, healthier, more affordable place to live.
Roe v. Wade Anniversary
Monday, January 22 marks the 51st anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Democrats across the country will spend the weekend highlighting extreme Republican abortion bans and calling for the return of reproductive rights.
The following talking points have been provided by the Democratic National Committee:
TOPLINE: Donald Trump and other 2024 Republican presidential candidates would enact a national abortion ban, putting them out of step with the vast majority of Americans.
- 51 years ago, on January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court issued a landmark decision in Roe v. Wade, protecting a woman’s constitutional right to choose.
- The case reaffirmed basic principles of equality, reinforced the fundamental right to privacy, and enabled women in this country to make deeply personal decisions free from political interference.
- But because of Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans’ extreme anti-abortion agenda, these rights have been ripped away.
- Since Trump’s Supreme Court justices provided the deciding votes to overturn Roe, we’ve seen countless horrifying stories of women across the country denied lifesaving care and doctors threatened with prosecution for doing their jobs.
- This should not be happening in America – but it is because of Donald Trump.
- As Trump proudly brags, he was the one who “got rid of” Roe v. Wade, allowing Republican extremists across the country to pass draconian abortion bans that are hurting women and threatening doctors across the country.
- Because of Donald Trump, more than 1 in 3 women of reproductive age now live under an abortion ban in effect.
- And if Trump returns to the White House, things will only get worse as he and MAGA Republicans work toward their ultimate goal: banning abortion nationwide.
- Trump has said there should be “punishment” for women who get abortions;
- In the past year, Trump endorsed a federal ban, promising “to be leading the charge” in getting one passed.
- And Trump’s advisors have drafted plans to unilaterally block women in every state from accessing medication abortion, and doctors and patients would even be threatened with jail time for sending or receiving abortion medication in the mail.
- President Biden and Vice President Harris are the only candidates in this race who will defend a woman’s right to choose.
- President Biden has called on Congress to codify the protections of Roe into federal law, restoring rights women relied on for nearly fifty years.
- The Biden-Harris administration is working to protect access to reproductive health care and safeguard patient privacy amid ongoing Republican attacks, including:
- Defending FDA approval of medication abortion
- Fighting for women’s access to emergency medical care
- Strengthening access to contraception
- And if Congress passes a national abortion ban, President Biden has promised to veto it.
- While Republicans are running on their anti-freedom agenda of taking away rights and dictating women’s private health care decisions, Democrats from state legislatures to the Oval Office are committed to making sure people have more rights, not fewer.
- That is what will be on the ballot this November and we’re going to continue to make sure that every single voter knows these stakes.