Equality Florida Action PAC and other partners deliver resounding wins in Florida primary

In Florida’s August 20th primary, MVP partners Equality Florida Action PAC, Florida Rising, FLIC Votes, and others helped deliver resounding wins for LGBTQ+, pro-equality, and progressive candidates for school board, mayoral races, and state legislative races across the state.

In particular, we were thrilled to get this election recap from Equality Florida Action PAC, sharing their incredible victories for LGBTQ+ and pro-equality candidates:

• At the school board level, 75% of Equality Florida Action PAC-endorsed candidates won or are headed to runoff. By contrast, of 25 candidates backed by far-right Gov. Ron DeSantis, 12 lost outright and 6 are headed to tough runoffs. Of the 14 candidates endorsed by the anti-LGBTQ group Moms for Liberty, only 3 won.
• In the race for Miami-Dade County Mayor, Daniella Levine Cava was re-elected to lead one of the most LGBTQ-affirming administrations in Miami-Dade’s history.
• In state legislative primaries, LGBTQ+ candidates made historic advances, with openly LGBTQ Democrats Mitch Rosenwald and Carlos Guillermo Smith securing legislative seats and Ashley Brundage poised to become Florida’s first openly transgender elected official, potentially tripling LGBTQ representation in the state legislature after November. Victories by pro-LGBTQ legislators like Reps. Angie Nixon, Ashley Gantt, and Rita Harris demonstrate strong voter support for pro-equality leaders in Florida, even in the face of challenges from conservative, anti-LGBTQ opponents.

Check out their X/Twitter thread for more highlights and photos.

“Floridians have clearly rejected hate and division, choosing a future where every student can thrive.”

— Equality Florida Action PAC

Equality Florida Action PAC’s Impact

Recently, Equality Florida Action PAC launched their TurnOUT 2024 program to mobilize pro-equality voters in priority regions of the state both in the August 20 primary and the November general election.

They set out to target 15 state legislative races that are top priorities for breaking the conservative supermajority in Tallahassee, and that also have the potential to triple the size of Florida’s state legislative LGBTQ caucus.

The TurnOUT 2024 program also includes their School Board Protection Project, which focuses on top-priority school board races in both the primary and general elections. 

For the August 20th primary, the team mobilized in counties across the state to help get out the vote for pro-equality candidates, with a get-out-the-vote program that included:

• Building 79 volunteer “Days of Action”,
• Making nearly 50,000 calls,
• Knocking on over 5,000 doors, and
• Generating nearly half a million impressions through their digital ad program to support pro-equality champions.

MVP’s Contribution

Equality Florida Action PAC’s Senior Political Director shared with us that MVP’s funding this year is what enabled them to launch and sustain their School Board Protection Project — and that we are the largest funder to support the project.

“MVP’s commitment to our vision of building a year-round organizing infrastructure that filled school board meetings for 18 months before this week’s election is how we held the broader community’s focus on the extremism creeping into our school boards and also how we activated an army of activists to pivot into these elections.”

— Joe Saunders
Senior Political Director, Equality Florida Action PAC

Updates From Other Florida MVP Partners

We are still collecting primary election updates from our other partners on the ground in Florida.

Florida Rising getting out the vote in Florida’s August 20th primary

In particular:

• Florida Rising has been mobilizing their organizers, members, and volunteers this summer, and ultimately helped 25,000 people register to vote, knocked on over 13,000 doors, made over 24,000 calls, and had 2,700 direct voter conversations with 100 volunteers and organizers. Their social media feed right now is an incredible stream of congratulations to an impressive list of progressive candidates they endorsed.
• Florida Immigrant Coalition (FLIC) Votes took a monthlong, multi-stop get-out-the-vote roadtrip to Miami and West Palm Beach, Orlando, Gainesville, Jacksonville, and Tallahassee, mobilizing voters to register, vote by mail, vote early, and vote on Election Day.