Biden Campaign in Disarray as Chairwoman Gives Up Florida

(UnitedHeadlines.com) – President Joe Biden’s campaign chairwoman, Jen O’Malley Dillon, has stated that Florida is not considered a battleground state.

During the Puck News podcast “Impolitic with John Heilemann,” O’Malley Dillon stated that she did not believe Florida was a legitimate battleground state when she was asked about the state by podcast host Heilemann. She noted that the campaign must “keep as many battleground states in play for as long as possible. While she claimed the campaign has ruled out Florida, she stated that North Carolina, Arizona, Michigan, Georgia, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Nevada are all still in play. In 2020, Biden won all of the states except North Carolina. O’Malley Dillon also managed Biden’s campaign in 2020.

However, O’Malley Dillon’s comments left the Biden campaign scrambling as the comments were disputed by the Biden campaign’s battleground state director, Dan Kanninen, who claims that Florida is “absolutely in play.” Kanninen stated that Democrats have “a presence in all the major markets” in the state and have “a strong team of leaders on the ground.”

Florida’s Democratic chairwoman, Nikki Fried, also stated she is confident that Democrats can win the state.

The Biden campaign has opened 13 offices in cities across the state and has a full-time of 28, a political director and communications director.

Over the past decade, Florida has become more of a Republican-leaning state. Despite the Democrats’ confidence, the numbers show Republicans are dominating the state of Florida, which went to former President Donald Trump in the 2016 and 2020 elections. After winning a tight race in 2018, in 2022, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis was re-elected in a landslide. In 2018, the election of Republican Sen. Rick Scott meant that, for the first time since Reconstruction, Florida had two Republican senators. In 2022, Republican Sen. Marco Rubio also easily won re-election.

Polls show Trump with a 7.6 percent lead over Biden, according to the RealClearPolling average for Florida.