'We're getting our butts kicked right now': Democrats panicking as Republicans take early voting lead in Miami-Dade, a historically blue stronghold

Early voting results in Miami-Dade appear to indicate a seismic shift is under way. The accompanying red wave may soon flood the Democrat stronghold.

A red wave to wash away the status quo

Miami-Dade is the most populous county in Florida, with over 1.5 million registered voters. It has voted blue in the last several presidential elections.

In 2018, Gov. Ron DeSantis trailed failed gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum by over 20 points in the county. This November, he may be the first Republican governor to win the county since Jeb Bush in 2002.

The Miami-Dade supervisor of elections indicated at 1 p.m. on Nov. 3 that 347,180 ballots had been cast (22.70% of active eligible voters).

Republicans are presently in the lead by over 1,000 votes.

Christine Alexandria Olivio, the Democratic House candidate in Florida’s 26th Congressional District in South Florida, told Fresh Take Florida, "This is not what we expected. ... This is worse than what we expected. We're getting our butts kicked right now."

While there are more Democrats registered to vote (~575,000) in the county than Republicans (~435,000), they have yet to show up in considerable force.

Olivio added, "We’re not drawing out our own base."

Roughly 27% of Republican voters had voted by Wednesday, whereas only 21% of Democrats had voted. 58% of the votes tallied to date have been sent in by mail.

So far, Republicans tend towards early voting, whereas Democrats are nearly twice as likely to vote by mail than by early voting.

Hispanic support, Democrat apathy

The Washington Post reported that the GOP has made significant headway with Hispanic voters in the county, which is 72% Hispanic, building on gains made by former President Donald Trump in 2020.

DeSantis is leading Crist by 51% to 44% statewide among Hispanic voters according to a recent Telemundo/LX News poll. The Republican governor is up by 10 points among all groups, according to a Nov. 1 FOX 35/InsiderAdvantage poll.

One Democratic voter, Roger Ledesma, told the Post that he doesn't intend to vote this year because the Democrat Party doesn't have "any great-looking candidates running."

Ledesma isn't excited by the prospect of Democrat Charlie Crist as governor, as he "doesn't seem like the strongest candidate, but I guess that's what we're given on the Democratic side."

Fresh Take Florida reported that Alina Garcia, a Republican running for election to the state House, believes DeSantis could win Miami-Dade County because people are fed up with Democrats and their policies.

Garcia indicated that the "average citizen has woken up and has had enough of this nonsense. ... That's why you're going to see Republicans outperform Democrats in such high numbers."

On Wednesday, the Republican Party of Miami-Dade tweeted, "Democrats spent years destroying our economy. Their chickens are coming home to roost!"