TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida's candidates have spent months asking for votes. With Labor Day behind them and eight weeks until the Nov. 3 election, the fight for voters' attention is entering its final stretch.
Republicans are preparing a national showcase, Democrats are pitching a comeback, and political scientist Susan MacManus says both parties face a familiar obstacle: persuading people to actually vote.
WATCH BELOW: Campaign sprint begins with affordability, turnout in focus
The GOP is taking its fall message to Dallas, where the party's first midterm convention opens Wednesday, Sept. 9, and continues Thursday. President Donald Trump is scheduled to speak both nights. Florida speakers include Reps. Byron Donalds and Anna Paulina Luna.
The political kickoff has competition: the NFL season opens Wednesday, too.
U.S. Sen. Rick Scott also plans to attend the convention, bringing a warning that Republicans need to show voters they are focused on household costs.
"We're going to have to start acting like we care about the cost of living in this country. We've got to drive down the cost of living," Scott said in a television interview ahead of the gathering.
Those concerns are central to the opening Florida Democrats hope to create.
State Democratic Party chair Nikki Fried said earlier this summer frustration over housing, groceries and property insurance, paired with year-round organizing, gives Democrats a chance to regain ground.
Fried said her party is hearing from families struggling to cover everyday expenses and argues that those pressures are making voters more receptive to Democratic candidates.
"The climate of the moment is really giving Democrats an opportunity to be heard where they may not have been so before," Fried said.
Republicans, meanwhile, hold a registration advantage of roughly 1.54 million voters.
State figures as of July 31 show 5,607,836 active registered Republicans and 4,066,503 Democrats. Another 3.33 million active voters have no party affiliation.
State GOP chair Evan Power says the party knows how to translate its organization into turnout. Speaking before the Aug. 18 primary, Power pointed to the party's voter mobilization operation and repeated statewide successes.
"But here in Florida, we're just built a little different, and that's why Republicans win time and time again," Power said.
MacManus said the period after Labor Day traditionally brings greater attention to campaigns. But distrust of politics, disinterest and the tendency of some presidential-election voters to sit out midterms can complicate turnout efforts for both parties.
"You've really got to convince people to turn out to vote. That's the number one thing you have to do. Everything else is tangential," MacManus said.
Personal contact can help bridge that gap, she said. Door knocks and conversations at community gatherings can reach voters in ways an advertisement might miss.
In a state as large as Florida, MacManus said, campaigns need established grassroots organizations and candidates who can connect with voters' everyday concerns.
For both parties, the fall assignment is the same: turn "I'm watching" into "I voted."
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