CNN’s Scott Jennings detailed Sunday why Republicans need to “come to grips” with their “new reality” of lower propensity voters ahead of key elections in Florida and Wisconsin.
Key special elections for two House seats in Florida and a seat on the Wisconsin state Supreme Court have Republicans eyeing the chance to gain more ground ahead of the midterm elections. Jennings, on “State of the Union,” highlighted to the panel how Republicans were able to gain new traction among lower propensity voters but must now motivate them to go out and vote despite their past record of not doing so.
“Here’s what I think about these elections, and the Republican Party has to sort of come to grips with the new reality, which is we’ve traded a lot of the highest propensity voters to the Democrats, but a lot of new, lower propensity voters have come to the Republican Party,” Jennings said.
“What is the real-world effect of this? Number one, it’s great for presidential elections. Ask Donald Trump, that’s how he won last November,” Jennings added. “But for off-year, off-cycle, special, midterm, anything not happening under a presidential election, these kinds of lower propensity voters just simply don’t have a history of turning out as much.”
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Since November, congressional Republicans have held a slim majority with 218 seats to Democrats’ 213. Following former Republican Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz’s November resignation and President Donald Trump tapping Mike Waltz as national security advisor, Democrats are eyeing Florida’s First and Sixth Congressional Districts.
While reports have indicated that Republicans are concerned about securing Florida’s Sixth Congressional District, Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida-based GOP strategist Ford O’Connell have expressed confidence that Republican Florida State Sen. Randy Fine will secure the seat.
“So one of the things Republicans have to do, and I think we will win in Florida, but one thing we have to do is condition these new people in the Republican Party, ‘Hey, voting in every election is vital. Don’t just turn out every four years. Turn out whenever there’s something on the ballot,’” Jennings continued.
“That’s something that I know the top strategists in the party are stressing, but it may take some time to condition these new folks to become regular voters,” Jennings concluded.
With early voting surging for Wisconsin’s state Supreme Court race, both Trump and billionaire Elon Musk have publicly backed conservative Waukesha County Judge Brad Schimel.
America PAC, a political action committee founded by Musk, announced on X that it would offer $100 to Wisconsin registered voters for signing a petition against “activist judges” and $100 for each signer a voter refers. In a poll released on March 20, Schimel was reported to be closely trailing his liberal opponent, Dane County Judge Susan Crawford, by 48% to 43%.
Voting for the special elections in Florida and Wisconsin will be held Tuesday.
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