The Democratic brand is severely diminished nationwide, but perhaps nowhere more than in Florida.
Several candidates appear to be taking the advice of independent Sen. Bernie Sanders and dropping the “D” next to their name entirely. That trend continues in Florida, where Jason Pizzo, the former state Senate minority leader, has left the party — calling it “dead” — and hopped into the race for governor. Another potential third-party candidate, Florida political fundraiser and lawyer John Morgan, is also weighing a run.
The bigger the field, the lower the percentage a winner needs to carry a plurality. Some Democrats worry that a three- or four-way race would open a more viable path for a candidate with a loyal base, but a ceiling of support — like, say, former Rep. Matt Gaetz. But given how toxic the Democratic brand has become, an independent, self-funded candidate could make inroads where the national party could not.
“Our constituents are craving practical leaders, not political hacks,” Pizzo told his colleagues after removing his party affiliation. “The Democratic Party in Florida is dead. But there are good people that can resuscitate it, but they don’t want it to be me … I’ve always been criticized by the far left and by the far right. But you know what the small businesses and the hard-working families and the teachers and the cops and the firemen want us to do? Be public servants, not politicians.”
The race will also be a test of what a fractured resistance to President Donald Trump looks like in his Republican-stronghold home state outside the Democratic brand.
The last time a well-funded independent ran in a statewide race was Charlie Crist’s run for Senate in 2010. Crist pulled in 30% of the vote — Republican Marco Rubio won with 49% — while the Democratic candidate got just 20%.
Florida Democrats, whose voter-registration disadvantage has only grown since then, insist even now that a bad party is better than no party — especially in a state like Florida where it’s expensive to run ads to boost name recognition, even if a candidate is flush with cash.
“In a three-way race, it’s just hard to see how you actually add it all up, even with my party being an absolute dumpster fire,” Democratic consultant Steve Schale told NOTUS. Running as an independent is “hard as shit,” he added. “For all the name ID [John Morgan’s] got, it’s still a $50- to $100-million endeavor just to be competitive.”
But Pizzo has a war chest of at least $25 million for his independent run, he told CBS News Miami when confirming his plans to run earlier this month.
He’s also met with No Labels founder Nancy Jacobson, a potential stepping stone to more cash. No Labels, founded in 2010 in response to the Tea Party movement, had aspirations to run a third-party candidate in the presidential election last year, but failed to secure one.
“No Labels has not historically gotten involved in state politics, and I don’t anticipate that changing,” Jacobson told NOTUS in an email. “But I am certainly eager to introduce Jason to people I know and would personally encourage them to donate to and vote for him.”
One of her biggest pieces of advice to Pizzo comes from personal experience.
“No Labels learned the hard way that the incumbent parties play for keeps. So if you challenge them, your staff, advisers and consultants may get pressured to walk away from you. That means you need good, loyal people who will stick with you,” Jacobson told NOTUS.
No Labels sued Democratic operatives last year over allegations they intentionally undermined the group.
Building those alliances could be tough for Pizzo after he burned bridges with state-level Democrats with his dramatic departure in the middle of the Florida legislative session.
“Jason Pizzo has been alienating himself from the Democratic party for a long time now. He’s completely distracted by his ambition to be governor,” Florida House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell wrote in a statement in April. “The working people of Florida are focused on the harm Trump’s policies are causing everyone, not Jason Pizzo (who they do not know).”
Pizzo got just 8% of the vote in a hypothetical general election poll conducted by The James Madison Institute.
“I think, obviously, name recognition has a lot to do with it,” said Logan Padgett, senior vice president at the conservative-leaning think tank.
Separately, political fundraiser and lawyer John Morgan is planning to launch a prize competition as soon as next week to get name suggestions for a new political party he may run for governor under, he told Florida political reporter Dara Kam.
“I’m gonna see who’s who, what’s what and then at that moment and I believe — maybe wrongly or rightly — I believe I’m one of the only people that uniquely could do this, is to jump in for the sprint,” Morgan said on another podcast this week.
Together, Pizzo and Morgan could garner so much buzz it may be impossible for the two major parties to ignore them.
On the Republican side, Rep. Byron Donalds captured Trump’s endorsement early, likely boxing out some other potential candidates. Casey DeSantis, Florida’s first lady, has hinted toward a run against him in the Republican primary. As for Matt Gaetz, he wrote on X this week that “the media wants this so bad” in response to an NBC News report that he was weighing a run.
Democrats are road testing their messaging against Trump and independents in the lead up to 2026. Democratic pollster Fernand Amandi has been advising David Jolly, a former Republican congressman who switched his party affiliation to Democratic in April and is planning to run for governor. (Pizzo removed his party affiliation the same day Jolly became a Democrat.)
Amandi told NOTUS the idea that there’s no chance for a Democrat to win a statewide race in Florida is a “gross underestimation of the negative impact and the destructive effect that Donald Trump and the Republican party that now controls every level of government in the United States, including Florida, will have on the electorate a year-and-a-half from now.”
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Claire Heddles is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.