Early voting begins: Is Florida nonetheless a swing state?
Experts speak with FOX 35 of how aggressive this years election shall be
The election is simply two weeks away, and voter demographics have modified.
Since this time in 2018, Florida has gained 1,225,908 voters.
Most of them got here in the previous two years.
“I was startled to look at the increase in voters over the last two years, about 800,000 more voters in just two years,” mentioned Aubrey Jewett, a political science professor at UCF. “And even by Florida standards, that’s a lot in a two-year period.”
At this time in 2020, there have been 134,242 extra registered Democrats than Republicans.
Now, there are 305,905 extra Republicans registered than Democrats.
“We’re trending Republican as of right now, but that doesn’t mean that we are going to become a red state overnight,” Jewett mentioned. “I still think that Florida is a competitive state and depending on what happens over the next two years, four years, six years, it could switch back.”
Another UCF political scientist factors to current poll initiatives as an indication Florida might nonetheless be purple.
“In 2018, Amendment 4 which reinfranchised felons, in 2020 you had the $15 minimum wage pass.” mentioned John Hanley, a lecturer at UCF. “And those are positions that are much more within the Democratic Party than the Republican Party and they both got 60 percent of the electorate, so I think that there’s still a purpleness of the electorate.”
There has additionally been an increase in voters who aren’t affiliated with a celebration.
Close to 30 p.c of voters aren’t registered as Republicans or Democrats.