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Florida Dems say support for abortion rights ballot measure will help drive Harris votes

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Florida Dems say support for abortion rights ballot measure will help drive Harris votes

Aug 19, 2024 | 3:24 pm ET
By Ariana Figueroa
Florida Dems say support for abortion rights ballot measure will help drive Harris votes
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U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Florida Democrat, on Monday touted to Florida delegates accomplishments of the Biden-Harris administration, such as the temporary expansion of the child tax credit. (Photo by Ariana Figueroa/States Newsroom)

CHICAGO — Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried told delegates at a breakfast meeting at the Democratic National Convention Monday that an abortion-related ballot measure will make the Sunshine State a battleground in the November elections.

“We will not be counted out,” Fried said, sporting a white blazer — often symbolic of the women’s suffrage movement — over a University of Florida shirt.

Fried added that Democrats are aiming to re-engage with their base.

She introduced Florida U.S. Reps. Kathy Castor and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and both lawmakers said they believed the Sunshine State would support Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris as well as other Democrats down the ballot.

Fried added that what is key to making Florida competitive again — as the state has leaned more Republican — is the ballot measure on abortion, known as Amendment 4, that would bar any state interference with the right to abortion in Florida up to the point of viability, around 24 weeks’ gestation.

It’s a measure that Fried called an “inflection point.”

“My hope is that we have secured a woman’s right to choose on the ballot,” she said.

Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, speaking to the delegates, said making Florida a battleground state “ain’t gonna be easy,” but that she believes the ballot measure will help Democrats in November elections.

Another guest, Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, said he’s optimistic about Florida supporting Harris. The last time Florida went blue in a presidential election was in 2012, the second term of former President Barack Obama.

“We’re gonna surprise some people in the Sunshine State,” Shapiro said.

Hazel Gillis, a 77-year-old delegate from Jacksonville Florida, said she believes that ballot question will help make Florida a battleground state in the 2024 election.

“We’re talking about women’s rights,” she said. “All women should vote in favor of that amendment because it’s our body.”