Donald Trump could lose Florida to Joe Biden in November’s presidential election as the president narrows the gap, polls suggest.
Although Trump currently leads in his home state, which he won in 2016 and 2020, the margin is tight and polls suggest the battleground could be a disaster.
The state twice backed Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, but Trump turned it completely red. However, recent polls in the Sunshine State suggest Biden is only four points behind.
Two separate polls, one from Florida Atlantic University (FAU) and Mainstreet Research, revealed that Trump’s lead over Biden has decreased over the past two months.
Losing Florida would be a personal blow for Trump, who resides full-time in Florida thanks to his home in Mar-a-Lago.
The FAU poll puts Trump at 46 percent and Biden at 42 percent, compared to Trump’s 50 percent in April.
Losing Florida would be a personal blow for Trump, who resides full-time in Florida thanks to his home in Mar-a-Lago.
Trump won Florida with 51.2 percent of the vote in 2020, but Biden’s improving performance in the polls suggests the race will be competitive in the state.
Florida has long been considered a Republican stronghold and Democrats only won the state in five presidential elections: 1964, 1976, 1996, 2008 and 2012.
President Joe Biden speaks at a reproductive freedom event in Tampa, Florida, in April. Biden expressed his administration’s opposition to Florida’s six-week abortion ban
Republicans have consistently won statewide elections for governor, Senate and Cabinet, but often by razor-thin margins, raising Democrats’ hopes for the next election cycle only to see them dashed again.
Although Democratic strongholds exist in the southeastern part of the state with the large cities of Miami and Fort Lauderdale, it is not enough to offset Republican gains in other parts of the state, including Broward and Palm Beach counties.
Part of the Republican shift can also be attributed to people living in rural areas of northern Florida, remnants of the Deep South, changing their registration to reflect their voting patterns.
Donald Trump gestures next to his birthday cake, created by Club 47, during a campaign rally as he celebrates his 78th birthday at the West Palm Convention Center in West Palm Beach on Friday.
Two recent polls suggest Biden is gaining on Trump in the Sunshine State
Many people registered as Democrats because generations before them did, but the so-called Dixiecrats still voted solidly Republican.
Democrats are particularly concerned about the trend in Miami-Dade County, home to 1.85 million Hispanic voters and a Democratic stronghold for the past 20 years, where the Republican Party made significant gains in the last presidential election and could give it a red turn in November.
But Democrats hope that a ballot question seeking to preserve abortion rights will put the state back in play for them.
But The abortion debate didn’t stop Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis from winning re-election in a landslide in 2022, even after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, by the time the election rolls around, Floridians will have been living with the restrictions for some time. .
DeSantis signed new abortion restrictions that prohibit the procedure after six weeks. Democrats correctly warned that she would further eliminate rights over the procedure.
Pictured: Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm, Beach
But the abortion issue transcends partisan lines. In a landslide victory for abortion rights supporters, Kansas voters in 2022 rejected a proposed state constitutional amendment that would have stripped residents of their right to an abortion.
Kentucky voters also rejected a 2022 ballot measure aimed at denying constitutional protections to abortion.
Last year, abortion rights took center stage in key races, including Ohio, where voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure enshrining protections in the state constitution.
The former president is careful not to be too brazen in his views on abortion.
He routinely takes credit for naming the Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, paving the way for a wave of new restrictions.
But Trump has also repeatedly criticized his fellow Republicans for being too harsh on the issue, blaming candidates who opposed exceptions (in cases of rape, incest and when the mother’s life is at risk) for the Trump’s losses. party in the 2022 midterm elections.