In the 2024 election, Osceola County voted “red” for President Donald Trump and Senator Rick Scott, but “blue” for two of its four state representatives, two of its county commissioners and all five of its constitutional officers like tax collector and Sheriff.
That may be because the county, like the state, has a high number of voters not identifying as hard-line Democrat or Republican voters, according to registration records.
News Service of Florida reports that, as of the end of September, 3,384,837 “active” Florida voters were registered without party affiliations.
Osceola County has the highest percentage of “no-party voters” of any of Florida’s 67 counties, at 30.8%. Locally, Orange County is third at 30.1%, with Miami-Dade County in between at 30.4%.
The Osceola County Supervisor of Elections Office showed, as of Oct. 10, that 77,054 of Osceola’s 223,211 registered voters are “Others”, meaning neither as Democrats or Republicans.
With those voters as likely “swing” voters for seats in Tallahassee or Washington, Steven Wells, chairman of the Osceola Democratic Executive Committee, said his party considers outreach to them strategic.
“With new people moving here every day and registering at the DMV, which is non-partisan, I think that has something to do with (the higher percentage),” he said. “And, both parties have lost some appeal to some voters because of how polarized we are now, they don’t want to be attached to what the politics bring us.”
Wells said he preaches involvement.
“We’re seeing people walk in offering to be a precinct captain or help with voter registration,” he said. “We try to appeal to the things Democrats offer; we lead the way in health and reproductive health rights, and as for the economy we’ve see the impact of the current administration’s tariffs and the prices of goods. We hope that meets people at where they are.”
Osceola Conservation Action Committee chair Jim Trautz said many people are registered without party affiliation and don’t even realize.
“People get in a hurry,” he said. “If you’re not registered with a party it limits what you can vote in in a primary. People aren’t aware they can change that online or from their smartphone.”
Trautz said as candidates are getting petitions to qualify for races, they’re asking people to register to vote if they haven’t.
“We have to be careful how we do that, and it’s a slow, grinding process,” he said. “It’s such a huge hill to climb these days.”
