Lea, 49, donned her Tortured Poets cat shirt, her “female rage — the election” bracelet and her blue chucks and went knocking on doors last weekend in deep red Lee County.
The self proclaimed “Swiftie” who runs several Taylor Swift-themed social media pages and asked that her last name not be used out of concerns over political persecution had recently begun channeling her preoccupation with the artist into something new: supporting Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party, even if her views isolate her from her neighbors in one of Florida’s most staunchly Republican areas.
“I was living and breathing her a long time,” Lea said of the singer. “Almost to the point of obsession. Now the campaign and election has kind of taken over some of that.”
Local and state leaders of the Florida Democratic Party were swift in praising the billionaire artist after she announced her support for the Harris ticket earlier this week, a sought-after endorsement due to her astronomical level of fame and ability to mobilize a devoted and highly organized fanbase.
As Florida’s Democrats applauded Swift, they also highlighted a unique opportunity: The second leg of her famed Eras Tour commences at the Hard Rock in Miami Gardens from Oct. 18 to 20, and Florida early voting begins the next day, Oct. 21.
Her arrival has already led airlines to add new flights. Hotels are getting booked. Even Brightline is planning Taylor Swift sing-along trains the weekend she’s here. Now the Democrats are getting in on the action.
“Taylor is bringing the Eras Tour to Miami in the weekend leading up to early voting, and I look forward to seeing that energy play out in Florida!!!” the Miami-Dade Democratic Party said in a news release. “You can expect to see Florida Democrats organizing in full force in Miami-Dade County around her visit as we work to take back Florida.”
“Let’s do this, @taylorswift13,” Senate candidate Debbie Mucarsell Powell posted on X with a picture of herself wearing “Florida” friendship bracelets. The bracelets are a popular tradition within the fandom.
“Welcome to Miami, Taylor,” said State Sen. Shevrin Jones, the Miami-Dade Democratic Party chair.
Let’s do this, @taylorswift13 ???? pic.twitter.com/Nhzlo7JPOf
— Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (@DebbieforFL) September 11, 2024
The impact of a Swift endorsement in Florida
Across Florida, registered Republicans currently outnumber Democrats by over 1 million and voter turnout among younger generations is low. Could a celebrity ally like Swift actually have the power to change that?
“It takes all types of things to engage and motivate people,” Jones said. “Some people it might be Taylor Swift, some people it might be their pastor, some people it might be their fraternity … her coming before the election, I believe it speaks to a group of people to engage here in Florida. I think we should absolutely capitalize on it.”
Asked about the party’s plans for her visit to the county, Jones said he didn’t have specifics yet.
“I do know there is an excitement that is happening with our clubs or caucuses,” he said. Vague ideas include reminders about returning mail-in ballots and early voting. It’s possible Swift herself could use her presence in Florida to remind people to vote early. Just Wednesday, she encouraged people to register in a speech at the VMAs (MTV’s Video Music Awards).
Some Florida politicians already have a vision for how they might redirect the Swift mania into votes for Harris — and for themselves.
Barbie Harden Hall is seeking to oust incumbent U.S. Rep. Daniel Webster in another staunchly red district that encompasses The Villages and some of Orange County. A “Swiftie” herself — converted by daughters aged 7 and 8 — she hopes the weeks leading up to the singer’s arrival in South Florida contain listening parties, friendship-bracelet-making events, possibly even a Swiftie bus or carpool to the polls, blasting Swift’s music.
For Hall, the power of Swift lies in the fun she can bring to civic engagement, especially for people who might not care about politics otherwise, a persistent challenge for Democrats in Florida.
“People have just completely checked out of the political system unless they’re really involved and tapped in, which most people aren’t,” she said, citing the “horrible turnout in midterm elections” in Florida that drove Democrats’ losses.
But “so many people are gonna be excited from just that weekend of concerts,” Hall added. “It’s like, ‘let’s keep this going a little bit.’ Even people who aren’t able to go to the concert can join. It’s about getting together, making fun out of voting.”
Already, the singer’s announcement has sparked a wave of interest in voting among fans. Over 400,000 people headed to the “vote.gov” website from her Instagram post. A study conducted by Final Round AI ranked states by Swift-fueled inquiries about voter registration, Florida Politics reported. Florida reached No. 9, and was the only state among the top 10 that went for Donald Trump in 2020.
Even before Swift made her views known, her fans had organized into a voting bloc. The “Swifties for Kamala” Instagram page has over 55,000 followers. Multiple Facebook pages have popped up for Swifties supporting the candidate throughout the country, including Florida.
“Florida Swifties for Harris, with Mother’s endorsement it’s time to mobilize,” reads one post in a local group with close to 400 members. “We have until October 7 to get voter registrations in. Who can we work with to get a voter registration drive going in our cities? Can we get campaign materials (signs, stickers, etc) to pass out and get bracelets in the hands of voters to remind them how important this election is? Where are you and how can you help?”
‘Girlhood, womanhood and everything in between’
Swift has often embodied the issues at stake in Florida this year: bodily autonomy and women’s rights, on the ballot in the form of Amendment 4 on abortion, as well as the culture wars over LGBTQ issues. Her own endorsement announcement cited the use of her image without her consent after Trump shared a deepfake of her endorsing him on Truth Social.
“She’s very big on just autonomy in general,” said Carollyn Taylor, 32, a Swiftie since middle school and a Democrat in staunchly Republican Pensacola who previously campaigned for Elizabeth Warren. “… I think she fills a space in a lot of us where (women) don’t feel heard. In her lyrics, she captures girlhood, womanhood and everything in between.”
Swift’s endorsement and visit to the state may help add to the momentum that the abortion amendment in particular has garnered in Florida.
It’s an issue that is personal to Lea, a survivor of rape who has had an abortion and who is currently planning to move out of state in part because of Florida’s strict six-week abortion ban.
“I think her views and mine and Swifties, the ones that align with how she acts, what she says, what her lyrics say … it’s obvious she’s pro-choice, all about women’s rights and that kind of thing,” she said. “It does go together.”
Neither Lea nor Taylor have tickets to the Eras Tour in Miami, though they hope to participate in whatever events take place across the state.
Infighting among the Swifties?
Not everyone aligns their love of Swift with Harris or Democratic Party ideals. Lea and Taylor both know Swifties who support Trump, but their politics and adoration for the artist appear more compartmentalized.
“I’m not seeing it in the same sentence,” Taylor said. “It’s ‘I’m a Swiftie, but I also like Trump.’”
Lea said that she had to leave a Gen X Swiftie Facebook group she belonged to because of all the political infighting. “People were going nuts in there,” she said.
A “running joke” right now among Swifties, she added, is “‘Hey, if you wanna sell me your concert tickets for what you actually paid for them, I’ll gladly take them off your hands.’”
Some conservatives have already responded by criticizing the singer.
“Before you let Taylor Swift influence your vote, may I just remind you that 90% of her hit songs are about choosing the wrong person,” reads one Facebook post with close to 200,000 shares.
Others, including Trump’s camp, have argued that Swift’s influence will be minimal when it comes to the national election. His running mate, J.D. Vance, described her on Fox News as a “a billionaire celebrity who is fundamentally disconnected” from Americans’ experiences, while Trump said she might “pay a price” in the “marketplace.”
Of course, the Swifties have already retaliated in the way they know best: streaming her songs as much as possible to make sure no price is paid.
Lea drove to work earlier this week with her sunroof open, blasting six of Swift’s “female empowerment” anthems, including “The Smallest Man That Ever Lived,” “I’m the Man,” and “You Need to Calm Down,” the lyrics of which she found particularly apt, given Elon Musk’s recent tweet. She recited the lyrics over the phone: “‘You say it in a tweet, it’s a cop out. If you wanna come after her, why don’t you just talk to her?”