Smith’s angst, echoed by local Democratic officials throughout Florida, highlights the grim struggle facing the party, which is trying to rebound from its 2020 losses while developing an effective message against DeSantis ahead of his possible presidential campaign.

Yet as they seek to defeat DeSantis’s brash style of conservatism, Florida Democrats have been battered by internal divisions over strategy and messaging, lackluster fundraising and a flailing voter registration effort, even as the state’s population gets more diverse.

For the first time in history, there are nearly as many Republicans registered in Florida as there are Democrats. The state continues to drift to the right even as new census data shows White residents have slipped to 51% of the state’s population.

“We have failed to counter Republican propaganda, which has been especially aimed at Independent and no-party affiliated voters,” said Steve Simeonidis, a former chairman of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party. “Republicans have been able to convince them to vote against their own values, and part of the reason is they are out knocking on doors six, seven, eight months before an election.”