HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — President Joe Biden’s campaign announced it will open a new office in Hillsborough County as he tries to appeal to voters amid abortion restrictions.
This comes just after the president visited Tampa earlier this week and slammed Trump along with Florida's strict abortion laws.
During his visit, Biden aimed at Trump saying women don’t have rights under his leadership. His campaign is harping on the new six-week ban set to take effect in May and the upcoming ballot measure, to gain traction in a state he lost during the 2020 election.
Now, he’s trying to invest in the Republican-dominated state.
Investing Resources
In a memo from earlier this month, the Biden campaign said they were “investing in Florida as a pathway to victory.”
“Florida is not an easy state to win, but it is a winnable one for President Biden,” the memo read.
It said that the campaign is putting resources into the Sunshine State to try to put Trump on defense in his home state. Biden is using the abortion issue as leverage to gain critical votes from residents who are on the fence.
Are the polls in favor of Trump or Biden in Florida?
As of March 36, the polls didn't seem too great for the president in the Republican state. He’s lagging behind Trump again this year.
A poll by FiveThirtyEight, an election forecasting site, reported that Trump is ahead by an average of 10 points as of Thursday. Another poll by Florida Atlantic University shows Trump holding the lead with 50% of registered voters in Florida expressing support for him and 42% favoring Biden. The other 8% preferred alternate candidates.
The poll shows women are more in favor of Biden with 46% of female voter support whereas males tend to support Trump.
Will abortion on the ballot change things?
Florida’s six-week abortion ban is set to go into effect on May 1. In a few more months, residents will vote on a ballot measure that would block the state from prohibiting abortion up to the point of viability, which means when the fetus is able to survive outside the uterus and usually occurs around 24 weeks of pregnancy.
The initiative needs 60% of voters to say “yes” for it to pass.
The proposal will give voters a chance to expand abortion access. Women tend to be pro-choice, and this initiative could bring more women out to the polls to vote in the election. The FAU poll shows that 49% of woman respondents expressed their support for the initiative, 12% were in opposition and 39% were undecided.
But, this law and initiative might not be as critical as Biden is hoping.
The state is carried by Rep. Governor Ron DeSantis and Republican majorities in the state Legislature. Registered Republicans also outnumber Democrats by almost 900,000 in the state, according to data from the Florida Division of Elections.
In the last three election cycles, Florida has voted red. Trump defeated Hilary Clinton in the state in 2016 by just over one point and beat Biden by three points in 2020. DeSantis also won reelection by 19 points two years ago.
A Gallup poll in March also found that abortion is not among the top five non-economic problems for Americans with only 3% of respondents saying it’s the primary issue.
The new office
The announcement did not say specifically where in the county the new office will be. The campaign team said it will serve as a hub for, training sessions for volunteers, recruitment events, and organizing canvassing and voter mobilization efforts.
Hillsborough County tends to lean Democratic with residents voting blue in 2016 and 2020.