Before the First Major Primary Test: An Inside Look at the Florida Democratic Party’s Unprecedented Build-Up for Eventual Nominee

On the day of the Iowa Caucuses, the first major test of the Democratic presidential primary, the Florida Democratic Party (FDP) highlights the infrastructure it is building for the eventual Democratic nominee’s Florida campaign.

FDP has learned from its previous mistakes and has aggressively developed a campaign capable of defeating Trump — long before a Democratic nominee is chosen. In the 2016 election, FDP did not hire and train a field team until after the convention in July. This year, there are already over 50 people on the field team.

Florida Democratic Party Chair Terrie Rizzo released the following statement:

“Today is the first major test in the Democratic Presidential primary, but the Florida Democratic Party has been laying the groundwork for our eventual nominee for more than a year.”

Chair Rizzo continued: “Donald Trump has put children in cages, gone to court to destroy the Affordable Care Act, and passed a massive tax cut for the rich on the backs of the middle class. We cannot afford another four years of his presidency, and we are taking nothing for granted in 2020. Florida is the most critical battleground state in the country and we are already hard at work building the infrastructure needed to flip Florida blue.”

MORE ON FDP’S WORK TO BUILD STRONG CAMPAIGN FOR THE DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE

Building Strong Infrastructure

• FDP has raised and invested $7.6 million in our campaign to defeat Trump
• As of February 1, 2020, FDP’s campaign to defeat Trump consists of 92 full-time employees, the largest staff of any state Democratic Party in the nation — and equal to the Trump Florida campaign and Republican Party of Florida combined.
• FDP has already spent more than $500,000 on paid media focused on African American, Hispanic and young voters.
• FDP has launched a year-round voter protection department — including a 24-hour voter protection hotline: 1 (833) VOTE-FLA

Organizing to Win

• In addition to our 92 person campaign team, FDP and the DNC launched Organizing Corps 2020, a $1.5 million field program that employs 300+ Florida college students tasked with organizing campuses and registering voters across the state.
• The FDP has registered more than 30,000 voters since launching our efforts in July of 2019, compared to fewer than 13,000 voters in 2015. The Party is on track to register 200,000 voters before the general election begins.
• In 2015, the FDP sent voters 1 text message. In 2019, the FDP sent 357,439 texts.
• In 2019, FDP called 353,807 voters, compared to 243,543 phone calls in 2015.
• In 2019 FDP knocked 443,443 doors, compared to 300,987 doors in 2015.