We Can’t Fight Fascism Without Florida

Before “Florida Man” became a meme; a punchline used to caricature the state as backwards, and beyond saving, Florida was—and remains—a place of resistance. In her book When No Thing Works: A Zen and Indigenous Perspective on Resilience, Shared Purpose, and Leadership in the Timeplace of Collapse, Norma Wong teaches us that the Chinese word for “crisis” combines two characters: danger and opportunity. Indeed, while Florida has been home to some of society’s most dangerous forces, ordinary Floridians again and again have faced what seemed like insurmountable challenges with courage and strategy, transforming crises into new forms of collective power.

There are many examples of this. Florida was home to the first maroon Black community in what is now the United States. The Seminoles—also known as “the unconquered people”—were the only federally recognized tribe never to sign a peace treaty with the US government. In 1957, Tallahassee residents desegregated city buses after a seven-month boycott sparked by two Florida A&M University students who refused to give up their seats. In recent years, Florida youth helped ignite international movements for justice, turning their grief into organized power after the murder of Trayvon Martin, and again after the mass school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High killed 14 of their peers.

Florida’s history is not one of inevitability or decline. It is a history of people fighting, surviving, and birthing unexpected outcomes in the face of what seems like impossible odds. In a moment marked by rising authoritarianism and relentless attack, including the continued dismantling of the Voting Rights Act, Florida offers important lessons for organizers across the country. Even as Democratic donors have increasingly divested from the state, organizers on the ground are urging people to not write Florida off as irredeemably red, but to recognize it for what it is: a deeply contested purple state, home to millions of working-class people waiting to be organized.

The Fight for Florida’s Future 

Both of us have been shaped by the struggle in Florida: Rachel as a leader of the Florida-based Dream Defenders and Maria as a facilitator of the Florida Statewide Alignment Table, which was founded in 2014 with the recognition that none of the progressive organizations had enough power to change the state on our own. The Alignment Table, now called Florida For All, was started by statewide organizations and labor unions that, after decades of organizing, came to realize that winning isolated campaigns or elections was no longer sufficient. We understood that the right had spent decades building toward long-term governing power in the state, and that defeating it would require an equally ambitious and coordinated strategy. We also couldn’t rely on Democratic establishment donors, who flooded the state with resources every four years, most of which got swallowed by the consulting class and focused narrowly on short term electoral wins, rather than long term powerbuilding.

We set out with a vision to build an electoral majority in the state, advancing shared campaigns and building joint political infrastructure capable of building the power needed to shift the terrain long term. We were on our way.

In 2018, Andrew Gillum won the Democratic primary, beating US Representative Gwen Graham, whose father served as the Governor of Florida. Gillum, the only non-millionaire in the race, hadn’t led in a single poll and was heavily outspent by all of his opponents. After securing the Democratic nomination, polling throughout the fall showed Gillum beating Trump endorsee Ron DeSantis. We began strategizing to move from defense to offense, preparing a co-governance strategy to move with Gillum as governor. Paired with restoring voting rights to 1.4 million Floridians, we were closer than ever to moving Florida decisively—perhaps permanently—towards the interests of working people.

We all know the next chapter of the story. Gillum lost by 0.38%, or 32,000 votes—fewer people than fit in an average American football stadium. And while voting rights restoration won by nearly a 2-1 margin, DeSantis and the GOP moved an all-out attack strategy on day one to blunt its impact. Republicans understood that if they lost Florida—a state they came perilously close to losing—their path to national power would narrow dramatically.

DeSantis responded by using the machinery of the state to strengthen the right, consolidating the Florida GOP around an increasingly authoritarian agenda, while systematically weakening progressive infrastructure. He waged ruthless attacks on labor, free speech, voter registration and the autonomy of local municipalities to move their own agendas. DeSantis led the GOP in record-breaking fundraising, raising more money toward reelection than any other governor in US history. He also invested in down-ballot races to elect other conservatives.

DeSantis leveraged COVID-19 to make Florida a beacon for conservatives to migrate to, including two of the world’s richest men, Peter Thiel and Jeff Bezos. He weaponized state law enforcement to attack his opponents (including progressive organizations who register voters), and through a campaign of psychological warfare, convinced national progressives that a state historically won on the margins was an unwinnable investment that they should give up on. Almost overnight, Florida became understood as “a red state” and Democratic donors pulled their money en masse.

Florida organizers occupy a unique vantage point precisely because they came so close to winning governing power, and experienced in real time the speed and intensity with which the right moved to dismantle their gains. Their experience offers lessons not only in defeat, but in resilience, long-term commitment, and adaptability in the face of authoritarian challenges. Since Florida is ground zero for the MAGA agenda and a testing ground for many of the strategies the GOP is now advancing federally, these lessons are crucial for organizers across the country who now find themselves in similar conditions.

One thing is clear: Florida history demonstrates that there is no such thing as foregone conclusions. While the Democratic donor class has largely abandoned the state, making it nearly impossible for Democrats to compete in elections, Florida organizers continue to find ways through—with fewer resources and under constant attack. 

Making Power as Important as the Win 

Responding to authoritarianism requires more than defensive mobilization among people who already agree with us. While the right attempts to “flood the zone,” crises serve as opportunities to build power and grow our base by helping people make sense of their circumstances, and organizing them into action—particularly new constituencies.

Trump and the Republican Party promised economic relief but have struggled to address the affordability crisis facing working people. In a state repeatedly devastated by climate disasters, DeSantis used FEMA dollars to construct the immigrant detention facility dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” while the cost of living continues to soar. 

These crises create openings to wedge the right’s traditional base of support, including among Cuban, Venezuelan, and working class white voters, as well as non-party affiliated voters who comprise nearly ⅓ of the state’s electorate. Florida has the second-largest Black population in the country. The challenge and the opportunity come in uniting these voters, not simply around an anti-Trump agenda, but around a vision for the multiracial working class that meets people’s basic needs.

An organizing strategy centered on a meaningful affordability agenda, addressing the cost of things like housing and healthcare, can win back sectors of the working class away from the right. Doing so will require significant shifts in organizing culture and strategy. Many Florida groups are seeking to move beyond the professionalization of organizing and the staff-driven organizer model that has dominated much of the nonprofit sector. Organizers increasingly recognize the need for scalable approaches capable of reaching new constituencies, developing broader volunteer and neighborhood-based leadership, and building relationships and infrastructure capable of surviving politically motivated attacks.

Floridians are already demonstrating what gains become possible when new alliances are forged to build “a bigger we.”

In April, after months of organizing by an Orlando coalition made up of immigration organizations, like the Florida Immigrant Coalition and Hope Community Center; organized labor, like SEIU 1199 and Central Florida Jobs with Justice; as well as Trump protest group 50501, Orange County voted unanimously to terminate its agreement with ICE, finding a legal loophole despite state preemption.

In Miami-Dade County, DeSantis and federal officials are being forced to shut down the highly-unpopular Alligator Alcatraz, after months of protest and legal action by a coalition of immigration, tribal, and environmental organizations.

Electorally, Democrats flipped the state legislative district home to Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump’s Palm Beach estate home, meaning Trump is now represented by a Democrat. In addition, City of Miami voters elected a Democratic mayor for the first time in nearly 30 years.

Florida organizers are proving that where there are crises, there are opportunities to forge new alliances, reach new constituencies, and advance new strategies for building narrative and people power. With strategic clarity, working class unity, and a relentless commitment to building power, David can beat Goliath. These wins are happening in a state that has largely been written off by political pundits who can’t easily see the electoral math, and whose short-termism continues to weaken the position of Democrats to build the long term power needed to swing elections.

Strategic Insights from the Frontlines

This essay series features lessons from Florida organizers fighting under authoritarianism, and the opportunities they see to build power amidst authoritarian ascendance.

Contributions include: an interview with Florida State Representative, labor leader, small business owner, and candidate for US Senate, Angie Nixon, on why building working class political power in Florida is possible; and lessons from Florida’s labor, youth, and Latino organizing sectors. Future articles include takeaways from Florida ACORN leaders on movement resilience in the face of attacks; and historical lessons from the Seminole wars.

Organizers across the country are urgently searching for strategies to navigate this new and challenging terrain. While assaults often begin at the federal level, decisive battles are fought in the states. States like Florida are pivotal—sometimes blocking federal progress, sometimes advancing model legislation, and sometimes elevating leaders who become national political figures.

Winning national change requires success in Florida, and across the South. This region is central to the future of progressive politics, shaping not just electoral outcomes but also the national narrative and the boundaries of what is politically possible. There is no path to national political power without the South, especially without large states like Florida and Texas.

Florida has become both a laboratory for authoritarian governance and a proving ground for the kinds of strategies required to chip away at it. We should be clear that no part of this country is “too far gone.” There are working class people in every corner of every state, and they can be organized if we are willing to believe in them, invest in them, and fight alongside them. Florida teaches us that the future is never fixed. It is contested terrain, shaped by those willing to struggle for it.