Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis announced on Friday that registered Republican voters in Florida have now surpassed Democratic voters for the first time in the state’s history.
DeSantis shared the news during the National Conference of State Legislatures as a milestone achievement that the state’s GOP has been pursuing for years.
“Today for the first time in the history of Florida we’ve now overtaken Democrats,” DeSantis said, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
Florida voter registration numbers from August showed Republicans were within 24,000 voters of surpassing the state’s registered Democrats. The new announcement, based on more recent counts at the state and local levels, shows GOP registrations have now taken the lead.
The shift is significant, as former President Barack Obama won the state in both 2008 and 2012. Former President Donald Trump won in both 2016 and 2020 in close finishes.
In addition, as one of the nation’s most populous states, Florida now carries 30 electoral votes in presidential elections.
At the state level, the effects were noticable as Republicans made strong gains during the 2020 election. In addition to a Trump win, Florida flipped two congressional districts from blue to red.
Just 10 of the state’s 27 congressional districts remain under Democratic control.
Both of Florida’s senators are also Republicans. They include longtime Sen. Marco Rubio and Sen. Rick Scott.
DeSantis drew nationwide attention earlier this week when he called the Biden administration the “Brandon administration” in a nod to the viral “Let’s Go Brandon!” phrase.
DeSantis made the comment during an election integrity news conference in Palm Beach Wednesday morning.
DeSantis spoke out against Big Tech and made note of GOP wins in Virginia against the “woke agenda.”
“If you look at all the things that are going on, you see Big Tech, you see the corporate media. Although they weren’t too happy with Virginia last night,” DeSantis said.
“If you look at that if you look at what’s going on with some of the big corporations with their woke agenda.”
The crowd roared at the next comments from the governor.
“When you look at the Biden — the Brandon administration — in terms of what they’re doing,” he said.
In addition to laughter, the crowd launched into a spontaneous “Let’s Go Brandon!” chant.
