PBC Chair Kevin Neal at October Lunch

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Republicans are far outpacing Democrats in voter registration in Florida and we have clearly moved into position as the second largest Red State after Texas. Chairman Neal began his presentation at our October lunch with these positive trends, also noting that Florida is the home for Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis, the two dominant players in presidential politics. (Note: Palm Beach county is now D+8.6, 5 points better than going into the 2020 election. Statewide it is R+4.6, also 5 points better). Kevin described the massive migration of conservatives to Florida and the other red states as “live free or move”.

So statewide and in the county we are in good shape to pick up some of the seats that were close in 2022. There are also about 90 seats up for grabs at the municipal level. With filing dates coming up in November for the March elections, the party needs people to step up and run for these seats.

As we move into 2024, Kevin suggests that we all register to receive vote-by-mail (VBM) ballots. You can still vote in person if you wish, but having the VBM ballot is a backup plan. VBM is the method most prone to fraud, but the rules in Florida have been tightened (drop box monitoring, ID requirements, limits on ballot harvesting), and as long as the process exists we should take advantage of it. The most powerful way to fight fraud is to turn out for a landslide result – more votes for our side than they can overcome by cheating.

He suggested that we can’t stop our scrutiny of the process as there is some indication that in 2020, Trump got a lot more votes in Florida than reported.

Also at the meeting was a number of candidates for 2024 races: Deb Adeimy and Andrew Gutmann for CD22, and Page Lewis for School Board district 1.