Republicans outnumber Democrats in Florida heading into 2022

In Florida, for the first time in modern political history, the number of registered Republican voters outnumber registered Democrats, raising concerns about whether donors, Washington Democrats and others will focus their efforts elsewhere. 

At the same time, Republicans control most of Florida state government, and nationally recognized GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis is headed into a reelection cycle with a huge amount of campaign cash.

Among Democratic ranks, there is a concern that big donors and national Democrats have now come to view Florida as a solidly red state. Despite a $100 million injection from Michael Bloomberg during the 2020 election, former President Trump carried the state and the GOP picked up statehouse and congressional seats.

The Democratic Governors Association maintains it is building a general election infrastructure to "ensure we have what it takes to take on DeSantis next fall," according to the group's political director, Marshall Cohen.

DeSantis announced last month that registered Republicans outnumbered Democrats. 

"Florida voters are choosing the Republican Party over the Democratic Party because we value freedom and liberty and reject Democrat-led government control. This milestone moment reflects years of hard work, combined with the success of our common-sense conservative policies," he wrote.

DeSantis won his first gubernatorial election in 2018 by a margin of about 32,000 votes in a year where Democrats outnumbered Republicans by more than a quarter-of-a-million voters.