Florida not a focus for Kamala Harris' presidential campaign, but remains important
TALLAHASSEE - Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential campaign manager on Wednesday released an overview that said the campaign will "play offense" in a series of battleground states, but the list did not include Florida.
"Winning the presidential election still requires winning 270 electoral votes, and that means our pathways to victory run through the states," Jen O'Malley Dillon wrote in the overview.
"Vice President Harris enters a tight race, but it is clear that she can bring together a coalition of voters to keep a wide set of states in play. We continue to focus on the Blue Wall states of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania - and the Sun Belt states of North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada, where the Vice President's advantages with young voters, Black voters, and Latino voters will be important to our multiple pathways to 270 electoral votes."
She added that they intend to play offense in each of these states, and have the resources and campaign infrastructure to do so.
Despite O'Malley Dillon's overview, Jasmine Burney Clark, campaign state director for Harris in Florida, said the state remains "critical" this election and Democrats will try to win it.
"We are seeing an overwhelming groundswell of support for Kamala Harris in Florida and our campaign is ramping up, building on the strong foundation we've already established, and working for every vote in this state," Burney Clark said.
"Right now, we've got nearly a dozen field offices and over 30 team members working hard across the Sunshine State—and we've seen more than six thousand people signing up to volunteer in Florida since Sunday—the largest surge in recruitment of the campaign," she added.
The overview came three days after President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential campaign and gave his support to Harris, who quickly appeared to lock up the party's nomination.
Former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, won Florida in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections. Also, Florida Republicans have built a commanding edge in voter registration during the past few years.
