CHICAGO – The Democratic National Convention is well underway Monday and much of the discussion for Florida delegates who are on hand in Chicago is Jacksonville.
On the first day of the convention, Florida officials talked about how the city went blue in the last mayoral election with Donna Deegan being elected mayor of Jacksonville.
The first breakfast for Florida delegates gathered in Chicago went over a lot of issues in the Sunshine State, but one of the hot topics was about whether Florida would return to a swing state rather than the solid red it has been the last few election cycles.
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Officials said they feel what happened in Jacksonville may be a sign for the rest of the state.
“The tide is turning and we can feel it. We have a new democratic mayor in Jacksonville, Donna Deegan,” Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz said.
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Val Demings, a Jacksonville native who unsuccessfully ran for Senate against Marco Rubio, said she sees a shift as well.
“Jacksonville, I was born and raised there. I’m quite familiar with the city. Donna Deegan is doing an exceptional job,” Demings said. “I think Jacksonville is just an example that people are saying we want to elect somebody who sees us and hears us.”
Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried also feels strongly that her party is making inroads in Florida.
“Since the election of Donna Deegan, we have seen this state starting to trend Democrat, 65 to 70% of independent, which makes up about one-third of our electorate at this point, is going toward the Democrats,” Fried said.
President Joe Biden will give a speech on the convention’s opening night Monday, as will his wife, first lady Jill Biden.
Biden is expected to use his keynote address as a symbolic handoff of his party to Harris, capping five decades in Democratic politics and pressing the case for what he says is the threat to the country if Trump returns to the White House.
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Harris will be on hand to watch the president’s speech. Signs in the arena will feature a regular Biden-ism: “Spread the faith.” While Harris is expected to stick around through the week’s events, ahead of her own speech, officials say Biden isn’t planning to be in Chicago past his own appearance.