With about a month to go before the November general election, party leaders on both sides of the aisle are gearing up for a final push to get their candidates across the finish line. Over the weekend, Florida Democrats were in a celebratory mood, as they opened five new Harris-Walz campaign offices across the state — including one in Escambia County.
Red, white, and blue balloons, campaign signs, and a host of volunteers wearing Harris-Walz shirts provided the backdrop for the opening celebration at the new Pensacola office.
“All right, everyone, gather round, gather round. We're gonna start our office opening,” announced Regional Press Secretary, Josie Barrosa.
First to be introduced and offer remarks was Northwest Florida’s leading Democratic candidate, Gay Valimont, a gun violence prevention activist who’s running for the state’s District One Congressional seat.
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“Floridians are coming out in full force because they’re tired of the chaos, the hate, and the division that comes with Donald Trump,” declared Valimont, whose first responsibility was to promote the top of the ticket, Vice-President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. “If we continue our work on the ground, we’re gonna make this happen. We’re gonna turn the page on Donald Trump and we are going to elect Kamala Harris as our new president. Let’s get to work.”
Valimont believes something truly remarkable is taking place in Florida within the Democratic Party and hopes the excitement over the Harris-Walz campaign and ballot issues, such as women’s healthcare rights, will trickle down.
“Since Vice President Harris took over at the top of the ticket, tens of thousands of volunteers have signed up to get involved in our state by knocking on doors, making calls, and helping write postcards for the vice president and Democrats up and down the ballot, just like me,” she said.
At this point in her effort to unseat four-term incumbent Matt Gaetz, Valimont said she’s feeling pretty good, having raised over one million dollars, more she claims, than Gaetz’s last Democratic opponent, Rebekah Jones, in 2022. But, by comparison, Gaetz and his political action committees had raised over $5.6 million based on the latest campaign finance data available through the end of July. She knows she’s facing an uphill climb.
“As everybody in this district knows, it's the toughest district in Florida and one of the toughest throughout the nation,” she asserted. “It's a plus 19 Republican district, so people aren't giving me much of a chance. But we're polling a little lower than Matt. Our polling shows that we are a viable candidate. We are ready to do this and take over.”
Inside the new campaign headquarters, which encompasses a small suite of offices, volunteers are signing up, and in one of the offices, Patti Maxwell is conducting phone training.
“The reason we’re phone-banking right now is when Kamala announced her candidacy, there were like 40,000 people who signed up to volunteer,” said Maxwell, explaining that they can only reach as many voters as they have volunteers to do so.
Former Pensacola City Councilwoman Jewel Canada-Wynn is one of the local volunteers. Now that registration has closed, she said getting their voters to the polls is her biggest concern.
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“The people that I worry about are the Democrats who stay at home,” stated Canada-Wynn. “That's what I worry about. I need for you to go out to vote. I need for you to go out to vote in Escambia County and all over this state.”
Samantha Hope Herring, DNC National and State Committeewoman and chair of the Walton County Democratic Party. She said the party’s goal will be to target every likely voter.
“We are not leaving anything at all on the table,” said Herring.
She explained that Democratic Party leaders believe there’s ground to be gained by going after crossover voters, including those registered No Party Affiliation (NPA) and some Republicans.
“When we were going into this race, I said, ‘Listen, Escambia County is going to flip blue,” she proclaimed. “There's a real potential and possibility for that. And they, you know, I had folks all over the state looking at me like I was nuts.”
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It’s a seemingly crazy idea because Republicans in the conservative county now outnumber Democrats in voter registration 46% to 30%, But, Herring points to those crossover voters and the “Obama-esque” enthusiasm on the ground, especially among women, that make her believe Kamala Harris can prevail here.
“As somebody who's worked with democratic politics all across our panhandle, from Leon County here to Escambia, I have never seen the energy that we have had in this region,” Herring said. “The signs that people want, the literature, and never have we seen the energy of getting out, knocking doors, and meeting voters who are excited as we are. And these aren’t just our Democrats.”
In addition to generating support for the Harris-Walz presidential ticket, volunteers also are campaigning on behalf of local Democrats, such as Valimont for Congress, and down-ballot candidates. That includes Lisa Newell for Florida Senate District One, Haley Morrissette, for State Representative District 2, and Ron Helms, who’s running for Escambia County Commission District 4.
Note: WUWF also visited the Republican Party/Trump-Vance headquarters in Escambia County and will have a report on their campaign efforts.