Florida Democratic Party director sees 2020 as opportunity

 

Elections matter.

“We’re fighting together, and we’re going to keep fighting together until we win,” Alex Berrios told members of the Democratic Women’s Club of IRC at their January luncheon. Berrios is community engagement director for the Florida Democratic Party’s Region 4, which includes Indian River County.

2020 is an opportunity for us to turn Florida blue, Berrios said. In the past six months 100,000 new Democratic voters were added to the rolls in Florida. Most of those were younger voters. Approximately 42,000 were between the ages of 17 and 24, he said.

New voters have a 65 percent likelihood of voting, Berrios added. That percentage goes up to 90 percent for those who vote by mail.

The Florida Democratic Party is pushing voting by mail to boost participation in the election. Berrios listed several benefits, including the ability to read and research the ballot, to bypass long lines at polling places, and to reduce the need for language or physical assistance.

After two decades in boxing, Berrios became involved in politics in 2018 “because I wanted to make a difference,” he said. “I do this because of my son,” who was frightened by school shootings.

Berrios is optimistic about Indian River County. He said non-party affiliated voters are leaning left, and the county is trending purple.

“We are going to win this election,” he said. “We owe it to our future.”