With abortion on the ballot, Biden and Democrats give Florida another look
CNN
A pair of state Supreme Court rulings on Monday – one paving the way for a six-week abortion ban in Florida, the other giving Floridians a chance in November to enshrine abortion access in the state’s constitution – has delivered a burst of Democratic optimism that this once-purple battleground could flip blue again.
Democrats just can’t quit Florida. A pair of state Supreme Court rulings on Monday – one paving the way for a six-week abortion ban in Florida, the other giving Floridians a chance in November to enshrine abortion access in the state’s constitution – has delivered a burst of Democratic optimism that this once-purple battleground could flip blue again. “Make no mistake: Florida is not an easy state to win, but it is a winnable one for President Biden,” Julie Chavez Rodriguez, the Democrat’s campaign manager, said in a statement shortly after the state’s high court ensured abortion politics would be a focal point in Florida through the election. The renewed enthusiasm is easy to understand. Referendums protecting abortion access are on a winning streak nationwide, including in states far more red than Florida. For a Democratic Party with few opportunities to go on the offensive, Florida’s 30 Electoral College votes and storied history as a swing state become even more tantalizing with a galvanizing issue like abortion on the ballot. Floridians will also decide this fall whether to legalize recreational marijuana, the state Supreme Court ruled Monday, another potential turnout booster. Alex Sink, a Democratic candidate for Florida governor in 2010 who has spent the last 15 years recruiting women to run for office, said if her party can’t win an election with Trump, abortion and marijuana on the ballot, it will end the debate on whether the Sunshine State is still a battleground. “That’s the God’s honest truth,” Sink said. “If that happens, you would have to say it’s more of a red state.”
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