537 votes.
That’s how much Gore trailed Bush by in Florida when the Supreme Court stopped the counting in the 2000 election.
537 votes.
A margin that forever changed America:
And do you know what else changed America?
The fact that on that same ballot that year—just in Florida—Democrats failed to compete in seven of 23 US House seats, 8 out of 20 state senate seats, and 30 out of 120 house seats. 45 total seats!
Think about that: we know from studies that candidates (and funded candidates) running down-ticket lift turnout for the entire ticket. So it’s pretty clear that candidates contesting in even some of those 45 districts—which covered millions of Florida voters—would’ve blown away that 537-vote margin.
But no one ran in any of them. No one knocked on doors. No one rallied volunteers. And the rest is history.
That is one painful lesson on why you need to run everywhere.
But amid that painful story, I’ve got some good news: Florida is learning that lesson…
WATCH the video above to see what it is…
Add Florida to the list!
All around America, parties and activists have stepped up to say, “No more! It’s no longer acceptable to leave countless seats uncontested across America.”
The damage from doing so at the state and national level has become too painfully clear: unchecked extremism, division, lower turnout, and so much more. Everywhere.
So, from North Carolina (only 2 uncontested races, down from 30 in 2022) to Idaho (0), from Arkansas (a record number of candidates) to Arizona (a candidate in every district), candidates have stepped up and dramatically reduced the number of uncontested races in these front-line statehouse races.
Well….activists (a group of activists named 140 Blue Florida has been recruiting tirelessly for months, landing more than 40 candidates) and new party leadership (new Florida chair Nikki Fried) in Florida just stepped up in a huge way and did the same thing.
How well did they do?
From all those uncontested races in 2000…to 34(!) uncontested races for the statehouse in 2022…this week, the number of uncontested races in Florida this year will be…
Zero.
Zippo.
Nil.
That’s right, every single statehouse, state senate and Congressional district in Florida has a Democrat entering the race.
That’s a BFD as it is, but then, remember that, this year:
a proposed Constitutional amendment will appear on the Florida ballot to protect reproductive freedom (and needs 60% to pass);
A US Senate race is on the ballot, with the always unimpressive Rick Scott polling in the mid-40s;
The presidential race is obviously on the ballot;
The extreme Florida statehouse itself is on the ballot, and now so many of its extremist members will face challenges for all they’ve done.
So yes, running in every Florida district with all that at stake has enormous consequences both national and in the state.
Something to celebrate, and more pro-democracy momentum to build on.
One Request
But, we’ve got one more step remaining. We are about to enter what Florida calls its qualifying period.
To qualify as a candidate, Florida has a high filing fee—$1,782 per candidate. The leadership of 140 Blue Florida, the ones who played such a heroic role in recruiting, tell me that a number of the candidates need a boost to be able to pay that fee.
So, Blue Florida is again stepping up to help!
They’ve set up an ActBlue Page to raise money to support any candidates who need a final boost to pay this filing fee. To fill the gap, they need to raise around $40,000 total—with 100% of the funds going to those filing fees.
Knowing how important this is—remembering those 537 votes in 2000, amid all those uncontested races—can you help fill the gap? Anything you can give to ensure that all these candidates can pay that fee and qualify for the ballot would provide a real boost.
100% of the funds will go to the new candidates to pay that fee and get on the ballot.
If you’re interested in helping, go the 140 Blue Florida ActBlue webpage and give what you can.
And thank you to so many—the candidates, the 140 Blue Florida leaders (Margie Stein, Dr. Fergie Reid and leaders from the Democratic Environmental Caucus of Florida (DECF)), the new party leadership—for stepping up to lift democracy across Florida.
In the long battle for democracy, the momentum we are building in all these states is critical. Let’s keep it going!
Breaking: No Uncontested Races in Florida!