Florida Democrats announced that they will be fielding a candidate in each of the 28 districts of the state House for the first since 2018.

The deadline for filing Florida’s elections was last Friday. This election cycle, the Florida Democratic Party has made an effort to recruit Democrats who will run in every state seat.

Nikki Fried, Chairwoman of the Florida Democratic Party, said that “Florida Democrats have just filed for each congressional seat.” “It doesn’t matter whether we run in Key West or Pensacola, every part this state is worth fighting and we won’t let Florida Republicans get elected without being held responsible.” Florida Democrats are ready to compete anywhere.”

Cook Political Report rates 19 of the 28 House seats in the state as “solid Republican”. Cook Political Report lists only three seats as being competitive in the state.

Even in districts with popular Republican incumbents, Democrats are running candidates in all of the districts.

Florida 1 – Matt Gaetz (R-FL), COOK PVI R+19

Gaetz is one of the most secure seats in the state, as voters have elected Gaetz in landslides in each of the last four elections.

Gay Valimont is Gaetz’s sole challenger. She describes herself as a gun violence prevention activist and a mother. Valimont raised just over $280,000 to run her campaign, compared to Gaetz’s $4.5 million.

Florida 12 – Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), COOK PVI R+17

Bilirakis has been a Florida 12th Congressional District incumbent since 2012, winning every House election held in his district with a dominant victory.

Rock Aboujaoude Jr. is his opponent, a Democrat who was a recent University of Florida student and ran unsuccessfully in 2020 for a Florida House Seat. Aboujaoude, Jr., filed his paperwork on April 26th. This was the deadline for candidates to file in Florida. He does not have any listed funds raised.

Florida 27 – Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL), COOK PVI EVEN

Two Democrats will be running against Salazar, in a district where President Joe Biden and the former President Donald Trump were almost tied for votes in the election of 2020. Salazar was much more popular in 2022, when voters elected her by an average of 15 points. Lucia Baez Geller and Michael Davey raised $550,000 against Salazar’s $1.8 million.

Florida 13 – Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), COOK PVI R+6

The only Republican district that appears to be competitive in Florida is Luna’s. Cook Political Report rated the district as “likely Republican” and Democrats responded by recruiting 6 candidates to run in the district against Luna.

Luna won the district by eight points in 2022, but he will be facing a crowded Democratic field led by Whitney Fox, formerly the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority’s communications director. Fox raised $420,000 compared to Luna’s $1.3 million.

Democrats will not let a House race go unopposed, even though they are unlikely to win any seats from Republicans by 2024.

Fried stated that “when we have candidates running in all corners of the state, we give Democrats a reason to come out and vote on Election Day.” “If I was Donald Trump or Rick Scott, I’d be nervous. We will elect Democrats in 2024 to help Take Back the House, and defend the Senate Majority.”