The interstate 4 run between Orlando and Tampa/St. Pete is one of the most contested and sought after set of voters in the U.S. The state, and thus the nation, has the potential to be decided by our votes. The I4 Corridor Kossacks Group's mission is to protect the voting rights of all Floridians, drive the Democratic vote, and support progressive causes.
If you are unfamiliar with the I4 corridor, while it links the coasts at the center of the state, the "corridor" generally refers to the portion encompassing the greater Orlando metro and west to the area commonly called "Tampa Bay" by outsiders that includes the very distinct, but Hatfield & McCoy cities of Tampa and St. Petersburg. What makes it special for us though is the rapid growth....
People moving to the Interstate 4 corridor and South Florida drove the state's population growth to nearly 20 million residents last year, allowing Florida to surpass New York as the nation's third-largest state.
New figures released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau show more than half of the growth in Florida last year came from three metropolitan areas: South Florida, Orlando and Tampa. Metro Orlando increased by about 50,000 new residents, and the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater region jumped by 41,000 people.
...and
the nature of the voters here. (Emphasis mine. Counties in bold are part of the I4 Corridor)...
• Florida’s largest media market (registered voters) is the Tampa Bay market (24% of all registered voters), followed by the Miami market (21%).
• 43% of all Florida registered voters reside in the Tampa Bay and Orlando markets (the I-4 Corridor).
• The I-4 Corridor markets are equally divided between Democrats and Republicans.
• One fourth of all Florida’s Democrats live in the Miami media market, followed by Tampa (22%).
• One fourth of all the state’s Republicans live in the Tampa media market, followed by the Orlando market (20%).
• 55% of Florida’s registered Democrats live in just 7 counties: Broward, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, Hillsborough, Orange, Duval, and Pinellas.
• 53% of Florida’s registered Republicans live in 10 counties: Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Hillsborough, Pinellas, Duval, Orange, Lee, Brevard, and Polk.
To make it crystal clear just how important this region is, how neck and neck we are to Republicans, take a look at this.:
by Dr. Susan A. MacManus, Distinguished University Professor University of South Florida, Tampa Campus and David J. Bonanza, Research Associate, Palm Bay, Florida
Further, while the Right pretty much concedes it'll lose Miami-Dade and Broward counties to the south because they are Democratic strongholds, they fight like hell for this ground because it's where most of their registered voters in the state live.
Beat the Republicans here, we take the state. That's why the I4 Corridor matters.
It's often fashionable even here to abuse Floridians. But the truth is, we are just a massive state so lots of news happens here. We are also being geographically sat upon by the reddest states in the country, and the pressure applied is real and especially felt in the north/northwest of the state. That's also the home of NRA matriarch Mariam Hammer, who still wields extraordinary influence. You try living with her. We do have a hard right government right now, but the balance of power here is always tenuous. I don't need to belabor 2000, but Democrats did take the state. It was stolen from us, as the data now proves, and as Florida went, so went the nation.
We are the state most impacted by land loss due to climate change, and we can't become Venice; our grounds are porous, so the rising waters seeps up, devouring not just land, but our precious aquifers which are already being impacted.
Put it this way, if we can't save Florida, millions of climate refugees are headed your way!
To have any success in Florida it starts with the I4 Corridor. This is a must win region and DailyKos plants its flag today. We need your help to build this group into something special, not just for votes for sanity, but also to honor Reverend Barber's call for the Daily Kos community to join forces with his inspiring and urgent Moral Mondays movement. Please come join, let's learn together and make big things happen!