2020 played a big part

by Aaron (Shakespeare), Friday, May 08, 2026, 11:34 (17 days ago) @ Jack

Florida went for Obama in 2012 but swung hard red in the ten years that followed. Part of it, ironically, was an influx of immigrants. Cubans voted in bigger numbers than the state had ever seen in 2016, and Cubans are more right-leaning than most other minority groups.

2020 really cemented it in a way that that makes it hard to imagine a Dem winning the state in the next decade-plus; their laissez-faire attitude towards Covid brought lot of new people to the state, encouraged snowbirds to take up permanent residency, etc. The rightward shift has coincided with an overall increase in population; since 2000 Florida has increased from 25 electoral votes up to 30, which I believe is the biggest shift of any state over that time frame.