The fact is Gov. DeSantis had already gerrymandered the bejesus out of Florida in preparing to run for president in 2024. He had enormous influence in where the lines are in this current Congressional map. But what Republican can resist president felon’s charm offensives? Even a governor who ran against Trump in those primaries has a hard time standing up to the felon.
The difference this time around is that DeSantis isn’t in as much control of the legislature as he was.
It’s not just that he’s a lame duck, but he’s under investigation for illegal use of federal funds to pay for his political spending:
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administr-ation diverted more than $35 million in taxpayer funds — an amount far greater than previously known — as part of a brazen agenda last year to defeat two ballot amendments he staunchly opposed, a Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times investigation has found.
[...]
The ads purchased with the diverted money blanketed TV, social media and radio stations in the weeks before the election. They defended Florida’s six-week abortion ban and made exaggerated claims about the dangers of marijuana without mentioning that both were the subject of ballot amendments last fall.
Along the way, the governor’s administration bent state spending laws and obscured millions in government spending, records and interviews show.
Moreover,
Florida redistricting takes place against the backdrop of the Fair Districts Amendment, which set redistricting standards in the state constitution when it became law in 2010. State court interpretation of the law is still developing. Some past maps have been struck down under the amendment, while others have been upheld.
And “Republican groups seeking to add U.S. House seats in Florida by challenging the 2020 census suffered a major setback Tuesday as a federal court ruled the lawsuit was filed too late.” It’s within that confusing context that Hope Springs volunteers will start knocking on doors again March 7th.
We spent 52 days knocking on doors in Florida this year, with a special emphasis at the end of the year trying to anticipate where MAGA legislators might try to squeeze out more GOP districts. 19,647 Hope Springs volunteers came out to knock on 1,375,445 doors this year. We collected 225,686 responses to our Issues Survey last year. 53.8% of these were voters who were not identified as Democrats. (We don’t canvass Republican households.)
Hope Springs from Field PAC starts knocking on doors March 7th this year. We will continue to target Democrats and unaffiliated voters with our systematic approach that reminds them not only that Democrats care, but that Democrats are determined to deliver the best, most affordable government possible to all Americans. The voters we talk to continue to tell us they come away more invested in governance and feel more favorably towards Democrats in general because of our approach.
Obviously, we rely on grassroots support, so if you support field/grassroots organizing, voter registration (and follow-up) and our efforts to protect our voters, we would certainly appreciate your support:
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/UNRIGtheMidterms
Hope Springs from Field understands that volunteer to voter personal interactions are critical. Knocking on doors has repeatedly been found to be the most successful tactic to get voters to cast a ballot and that is the goal of what we do.
Yes, we really need your help here! Our printer’s bills are — like most things — much higher than we had anticipated for the year. Adding extra states (like California) did not help the budget!
For Hope Springs volunteers, this cycle is all about re-districting.
Republicans are eyeing up to five pickup opportunities in the state, which could offer a potential boost for the party as other Republican-led states like Indiana and Kansas have rejected efforts to do redistricting.
Observers expect seats in central and South Florida to be in play, such as ones held by Reps. Jared Moskowitz, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Lois Frankel and Darren Soto, among others.
“Democrats believe redistricting in the Sunshine State is likely to backfire, offering them the unintended opportunity of regaining seats in Congress.” This is where Hope Springs volunteers are at. We’ve collected 321,691 responses to our Issues Questionnaires in Florida and this year, we will be focusing on these prospective new Congressional Districts as well as any vulnerable Democratic districts (most will probably fall into both categories).
As we know, the GOP’s “string of overperformances over the last year, along with visible anger among voters, is reminiscent of the lead-up to the 2018 midterms, in which Democrats saw a ‘blue wave.’”
In anticipation of this, we’d already been canvassing in FL-09 (for 5 years), FL-14, FL-22, FL-23 and FL025 — five of the districts considered “at risk” in a new round of gerrymandering. But we are watching this very closely.
In a redistricting effort, any of these districts could see line changes, but Moskowitz’s, Frankel’s and Wasserman Schultz’s already have only a small Democratic lean; 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris won each of these districts with between 50% and 52% of the vote in 2024. So only a modest bit of line-tweaking could endanger any of these incumbents unless a blue wave intervenes.
[...]
Soto could be on the thinnest ice, Jewett said, because “his district covers parts of three counties, and he won with just 55% of the vote in 2024 despite having a 47,000 Democratic edge in registration. This district is heavily Hispanic, with lots of Puerto Rican voters, so it could be a prime target if minority districts are no longer protected.”
[...]
The only other Democratic member of Florida’s congressional delegation is Kathy Castor (14th). Harris won her district with 53% of the vote and Democrats hold a registration edge of 40,000. “She may be quite vulnerable given Republican registration gains in Hillsborough County (Tampa) and given the ability of some of the surrounding districts to trade off some Republican voters and still maintain a lead,” Jewett said.
Hope Springs starts up our Issues Canvass again in March. Our volunteers knock on doors of Democratic and Independent voters and use a voter-driven approach to guide them through the Issues Survey, the CSR and Incident Reports. We record questions voters raise with a Q(uestion)-slip and record other relevant observations on an Observations form. Q-slips are sent to the relevant Democrat to respond to and Observations are entered into VAN. At every door, we leave a piece of “show the flag” lit, something that tells them we were there and hopefully reinforces the Democratic brand. The lit focuses on the things voters told us were important to them last fall, aiming to appeal to every voter.
But the main focus of our canvassing is the Issues Survey, asking voters for their input and concerns. Voter responses to the questionnaire are entered into VAN and made available to all Democratic candidates who use VAN in the state after the primary.
Hope Springs has targeted states that have competitive Senate races and/or Congressional Races in 2026. There is a lot of work to be done!
We remain a seat-of-the-pants grassroots-driven operation. But Hope Springs has been called “the most comprehensive, organized grassroots voter contact project out there right now. It is truly astonishing that it is grassroots-based!”
No other Democratically-aligned org has been methodically trying to circumvent MAGA efforts to rig the House Midterm elections in 2026. And we need your help to continue. Our printer costs alone are way beyond our budgeting and we are asking for your help (if you are able).
If you are able to support Hope Springs from Field’s efforts to protect Democratic voters, especially in minority communities, expand the electorate, and believe in grassroots efforts to increase voter participation and election protection, we would appreciate your support:
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/UNRIGtheMidterms
If you would rather send a check, you can follow that link for our mailing address at the bottom of the page. Thank you for your support. This work depends upon you!
