Florida has had a varied political history. Once the home of a Democratic powerhouse, then a swing state, it is now synonymous with one of the nation's most prominent Republicans, Governor Ron DeSantis. While many see the Sunshine State as the new GOP headquarters, one 19-year-old refuses to accept that Florida is firmly in Republican hands.
Home to Republican top dogs like DeSantis and former President Donald Trump, Florida went Trump in 2016 with 49 percent of the vote, and by an even larger number with 51.2 percent in 2020.
While Democrats were able to fend off a national red wave in the 2022 midterms, Republicans won big in Florida. DeSantis was re-elected handedly with 59.4 percent of the vote, even winning in Miami-Dade County, which largely rejected him in 2018. But young Democrats in Florida are undeterred by the state's recent right turn.
"The idea that Florida is a lost cause, the idea that Florida is a red state is ridiculous," college freshman Zander Moricz told Newsweek. "Instead of doubling down on Florida, instead of putting all our energy into Florida, instead of helping people develop direction and hope for Florida, we're giving up on Florida."
Moricz rose to national prominence last year after he went viral for a speech he delivered at his high school graduation in Osprey, Florida. As the youngest plaintiff in the lawsuit against Florida's parental rights and education law, also known as "Don't Say Gay," Moricz received a stern warning from his school to not mention his activism in his address as Pine View School's first openly gay class president. In response, Moricz did not use the word "gay" at all, opting instead to use "having curly hair" as a euphemism for his sexual orientation.
Since his altered speech, he has been invited to deliver his original speech at the U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C., and received a personal note from Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who is openly gay, thanking him for his advocacy work. He was also invited to the White House twice—once to attend the signing of the Respect for Marriage Act, which codified protections for same-sex and interracial marriages into law, and a second to celebrate Hanukkah with President Joe Biden.
On April 21, Moricz will lead tens of thousands of students across Florida in a student walkout against DeSantis' education policies targeting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, African American history, gender studies majors and books.
DeSantis' administration declared him the "education governor" in 2020 and in the three years since, he has drastically transformed Florida's education system. The governor's office has defended his controversial education measures, saying that it is focused on handing back parental rights more than anything else and disavowed claims that the governor is censoring classrooms.
He has signed several bills into law, including one that bans transgender athletes from women's and girls' sports teams, one that prohibits textbooks containing "woke" ideology, and the so-called "Don't Say Gay" bill.
This year, DeSantis blocked a new Advanced Placement African American Studies class developed by the College Board, accusing it of "woke indoctrination," and issued an order prohibiting all higher education institutions from using any funding to support DEI programs or teaching about critical race theory.
"The Florida Legislature and Florida politicians have been making moves against young people in the state because the young people of the state do not have any political stakeholdership," Moricz said. "Our government is targeting a portion of the population who either cannot or does not vote because they believe there will be no political reaction —and that is what we are here to prove they're incorrect about."
Democratic candidates who have recently floundered in Florida's elections have laid blame on the national party for abandoning the state. Last Election Day, the then-chair of the Florida Democratic Party, Manny Diaz, sent an email, according to the Tama Bay Times, that estimated national groups spent only $1.4 million on the state in 2022, compared to the massive $58 million expenditure in 2018. Aside from a $50,000 check, the Democratic Governors Association offered Charlie Crist little cash against DeSantis.
"The national Democratic Party abandoned our state as far as funding and resources," former state Representative Carlos Guillermo Smith, who lost his re-election bid, told the Times.
The state Democratic Party also lost ground in the last election cycle. For the first time in state history, registered Republicans outnumbered Democrats—5.26 million to 4.96 million, according to the Orlando Sentinel. It's no surprise then that the results of the 2022 election marked the first time that not a single Democrat would hold a statewide position since the late 1800s.
"Florida is the third-largest state in our country. Florida is an absolute electoral must have," Moricz said. "For us to act as though there is any path to ensuring a progressive country without a progressive Florida is absurd."
A Brookings Institution analysis from last month forecasts that "younger voters are poised to upend American politics" in upcoming elections.
"Younger Americans are tilting the electoral playing field strongly towards the Democrats and making it very likely that the 'over/under' line in American politics will be 45, if not 50, for at least the rest of this decade," according to the February 27 report.
More than 100 high schools and almost every college in the state will participate in next month's Walkout2Learn, in which students plan to walk out of their classrooms at noon for 10 minutes of a "banned history" lesson and make an active pledge to local and state representatives about their opposition to the state's education laws. The youth protest is being spearheaded by Moricz's student-led organization, the Social Equity through Education (SEE) Alliance.
The SEE Alliance was formed in 2019 in response to school boards in Sarasota County, a Republican stronghold that went to Trump in 2016 and 2020 and has not voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since Franklin Roosevelt in 1944.
April's walkout is two-fold. Organizers want to provide Florida youth with a short-term and long-term solution to DeSantis' policies. By providing a virtual course detailing a brief history of the "different marginalized communities that have been disenfranchised or invalidated by Florida's government," youth activists hope to give students immediate access to the curriculum that's been removed from classrooms. They also hope to create lasting change by promoting civic engagement among young people, and thus, hand back political power to a group that the SEE Alliance believes to be overlooked by Florida politicians.
The pledge that participating students will sign, and that will be sent to their representatives, based on their geographical location, will include their voter registration to "prove that students have power behind their opinions."
"It's going to be a huge day, but it's really just the beginning of this entire network of young people that we're working to build in Florida," Brendan Pierce, who runs communications for SEE Alliance, told Newsweek. "It's laying down the foundation of this network of students in high school and college that we will tap into again and again and again over the next months and years."
Newsweek reached out to DeSantis' office for comment.
Correction 03/31/23, 7:32 a.m. ET: This article was updated to clarify the recent bills passed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Katherine Fung is a Newsweek reporter based in New York City. Her focus is reporting on U.S. and world politics. ... Read more
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