FLORIDA -- Across Florida, braving the elements, knocking on doors, phone banking, and talking with people from all walks of life, volunteers and canvassers took to the streets in 10 counties to talk to voters about their community concerns, hopes for the future, and the state of Florida’s political landscape.
The Florida For All Coalition (FFA) Super-Saturdays voter outreach operation is focused on connecting with and mobilizing voters around the consequential 2022 election. Voters have consistently shared that they are experiencing unprecedented hikes in rent and home insurance premiums, along with its pervasive effects: homelessness, evictions, outrageous landlord abuses, an inability to provide for their families, and an overwhelming sense that Florida’s leaders simply do not care.
“No matter what we look like or where we live, all Floridians deserve to know that with hard work, they can provide a good life for their families. Sadly, over the last 20-plus years of Republican control, Florida families and especially marginalized communities have endured the harmful effects of disenfranchisement and a lack of opportunities. The last two years especially have highlighted to us how an unscrupulous politician like Governor DeSantis is willing to put his political ambitions over the health, economic opportunities, and lives of millions. That’s unforgettable and unforgivable,” said Andrea Mercado, Executive Director at Florida Rising. “All Americans need to understand that we cannot afford to write off Florida this election cycle. Instead, we must come together and send our people’s champions to City Councils, Tallahassee, and beyond to fight for all of us to have the freedom to live our own version of the American dream.”
Governor Ron DeSantis has done nothing to address the compelling issues affecting millions of households throughout the Sunshine State. The Florida For All message was shared loud and clear: By using people’s power to vote, communities are not going to let Governor DeSantis and his allies get away with putting their wealthy, corporate donors over the needs of the people they were elected to serve, using our most vulnerable Floridians as pawns for their political ambitions.
As Tessa Petit, Co-Executive Director at FLIC Votes, pointed out: “We have seen time and again the destruction of our most cherished values like defending American democracy, individual bodily autonomy and now they are coming for our right to privacy enacted in Florida’s Constitution. Governor DeSantis wants to eviscerate our fundamental freedoms and govern from the authoritarian, far-right, extreme conservative ideological playbook. No matter who we are, most of us can agree that waging hateful culture wars in Tallahassee is not working on behalf of the people. We need real solutions to real problems to provide a good life for our children and grandchildren. Together, we will vote out these ambitious politicians at the polls once and for all.”
PHOTOS: Photos of the inaugural statewide Super Saturday events can be viewed and downloaded here.
Background: Grassroots groups coalescing around Florida for All are building power from the bottom up and are ready to deliver local and state victories. Every month until November 5th, these groups are deploying an army of volunteers, canvassers, and organizers to engage with their communities in getting-out-the-vote activities and empowering them to achieve their version of the American dream.
Florida is a battleground state, with hard-working Floridains ready to change more than 20 years of damaging Republican administrations in Tallahassee. Governor DeSantis and Republican legislators in Tallahassee forced policies on Floridians that are harmful tools of censorship, authoritarianism, and an attack on reproductive freedom and bodily autonomy.
About the Florida For All coalition: We are a statewide coalition of people-focused organizations aimed at empowering hard-working Floridians with the freedom to achieve their version of the American dream and building a Florida For All. We believe that our political leaders need to start investing in Americans because when that happens, our collective potential is limitless to provide a better future for all of us.
The coalition includes Florida for All, Service Employees International Union Florida (SEIU FL), Florida Rising, FLIC Votes, Faith in Florida Action Fund, Central Florida Jobs with Justice, and Dream Defenders.