As highlighted by the Florida Democratic Party on social media this Thursday, sign-ups to volunteer for the presidential campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris have kept growing across Florida. The state party’s post, citing POLITICO, said Harris’ campaign was nearing 22,000 Floridians signed up to volunteer for the Democrat’s presidential bid.
“Kamala Harris garners a surge of support in the Sunshine State. Don’t count Florida out!” the party said on X, the site formerly called Twitter.
Donald Trump, who this year is Republicans’ presidential nominee yet again, won Florida in both the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections. The last time that the state went for a Democrat in a general election for president was when Barack Obama was on the ballot, winning the state in both 2008 and in 2012.
This time around, some polling is finding Trump with only a relatively thin lead over Harris in the Sunshine State. Among likely voters when including independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Trump led Harris by two percent in recent polling from a Florida Atlantic University team and Mainstreet Research.
More broadly, the interest in volunteering for the Harris campaign among Florida supporters mirrors the recent poll results from Monmouth University that found a massive surge in enthusiasm among Democrats for this year’s election with Harris becoming the Democratic pick.
In June, 46 percent of Democrats said they were enthusiastic about what was then expected to be a rematch in November between President Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Biden withdrew from this year’s race near the end of July, backing Harris — and now, this August set of numbers finds 85 percent of Democrats enthusiastic about the 2024 election. Republicans were at 71 percent in both the June polling and the Monmouth numbers from August — but independent respondents’ enthusiasm also surged, collectively making it clear that Harris’ ascent shook up the latest race for president.
