© 2024 | WUWF Public Media
11000 University Parkway
Pensacola, FL 32514
850 474-2787
NPR for Florida's Great Northwest
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Local GOP not taking conservative advantage for granted this election season

Jennifer Schaffner, president of Escambia Federated Republican Women and John Roberts, Escambia County Republican Party chairman welcome volunteers to the local Trump-Vance campaign headquarters.
Sandra Averhart
/
WUWF Public Media
Jennifer Schaffner, president of Escambia Federated Republican Women and John Roberts, Escambia County Republican Party chairman welcome volunteers to the local Trump-Vance campaign headquarters.

With the Nov. 5 General Election just weeks away, campaign efforts are in full swing on the ground across Northwest Florida. Despite being in a predominately conservative state and region, Democrats are energized for their work ahead. State and local Republicans, on the other hand, are confident, but not taking victory for granted.

At the Republican Party headquarters in Escambia County, party Chairman John Roberts said electing Donald Trump — and his running mate J.D. Vance — is their primary focus.

“The No. 1 demand is ‘I want a Trump sign to put out my lawn, you know, to show I support him,’” said Roberts. “So that’s what we do.”

But, the party also is working down ballot.

“We've got more Senator Scott signs coming,” he continued. “We have signs to vote no on amendment three and amendment four. We have a commissioner race in district four over there, and we have lots of other hand bills on the candidates and the amendments. You know, you could look at those. We have stacks of them and more stored over there.”

RELATED: Learn more about the Florida amendments on the November ballot

Compared to the new Harris-Walz office that just opened in Pensacola, there’s plenty of room for storage and other activities in the Republicans’ temporary headquarters.

Additionally, the GOP has occupied this brand new building since August, so they’ve had time to settle into a routine, with a steady stream of people dropping in.

“What kind of help do you guys need,” asks Pensacola resident Antonio Torres, who stopped by on a recent Monday afternoon.

“Well, we need help here, doing this,” Roberts responded, in reference to staffing GOP headquarters. “We need help with people going door-to-door through your area or another area that needs it, going to Republican homes saying, ‘Make sure you get out and vote.’”

Torres took a few Trump-Vance signs and declared that he’s willing to do whatever is needed, because he feels this election — particularly getting the Democrats out of the White House — is that important.

Pensacola resident Antonio Torres stops by the Escambia County Republican headquarters to pick up a few Trumps and volunteer to help with local campaign efforts.
Sandra Averhart
/
WUWF Public Media
Pensacola resident Antonio Torres stops by the Escambia County Republican headquarters to pick up a few Trumps and volunteer to help with local campaign efforts.

“We’ve seen what this (Biden) Administration is doing to our country and we just see it going downhill,” Torres said. “Everything’s turned inside and backwards and they are not doing the wishes of the people.”

Another volunteer, Cissy Witt, came in to get a handful of campaign signs for some senior citizens and took time to shop a table full of Trump merchandise for one of them.

“That is hilarious,” said Witt, with a laugh, as she touched a red Trump hat with orange hair attached.

While she had to think about her choice of hat, Witt maintains there’s nothing to think about when it comes to her choice of Trump for president, despite his many issues and his personality.

“I think you should vote for the best person for the job, period,” Witt declared. “And he’s the best person for this country. I mean, it’s hands down to me...that’s what you have to vote for; it can’t be personal.”

RELATED: Democrats ramping up with new Harris-Walz campaign office in Pensacola

Targeting such members of the base to get out and vote is the top priority for the Florida Republican Party. According to local party Chair Roberts, capitalizing on the GOP’s voter advantage has been a very successful strategy.

“We've won every statewide election since 2014, basically,” said Roberts, pointing out that party registration has been shifting to the Republicans. “Just four years ago, there were more registered Democrats in the state of Florida than Republicans. Today, Republicans have a one-million-voter-advantage over the Democrats. Among registered voters in this county, we had a 25,000 more Republicans than Democrats four years ago. Now it's over 34,000.”

On top of that, Roberts said the percentage of Republicans who vote is higher than the percentage of others who vote. For example, he says 74% of registered Democrats in Florida voted in the 2020 election, while over 80% of Republicans cast ballots.

To maintain their winning ways, local party officials plan to continue an aggressive campaign strategy.

Jennifer Schaffner, president of the Escambia Federated Republican Women and a newly-elected state committeewoman, recounted a recent Saturday.

Pensacola resident Cissy Witt takes a few minutes to shop Trump merchandise on display at the Escambia County Republican Party campaign headquarters.
Sandra Averhart
/
WUWF Public Media
Pensacola resident Cissy Witt takes a few minutes to shop Trump merchandise on display at the Escambia County Republican Party campaign headquarters.

“We did flag waving out front,” Schaffner stated. Then, we went and did some door-knocking and then I came back and helped put signs together.”

Schaffner said she also made phone calls and has been busy sending emails to every Republican woman in the county, numbering somewhere in the neighborhood of 17,000.

Additionally, a group of high school students has been recruited to help with some phone banking.

And, the upcoming Pensacola Interstate Fair is being pointed to as a great opportunity for campaign outreach.

“Which, honestly, there’re so many people that go through there at the Fair. You really meet, you get to connect with a lot of people that way,” Schaffner said.

“So we usually give away a lot signs there,” Roberts added.

Even though only 10 of Florida’s 67 counties have a Democratic majority, Roberts maintains Republicans are continuing to grind like this because they don’t want to take anything for granted.

“We think we’re doing very, very well in the state of Florida,” he said. “The Trump campaign thinks we’re doing very, very well. But we still are pushing to get a big vote out.”

Sandra Averhart has been News Director at WUWF since 1996. Her first job in broadcasting was with (then) Pensacola radio station WOWW107-FM, where she worked 11 years. Sandra, who is a native of Pensacola, earned her B.S. in Communication from Florida State University.