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Remember when Congress came to a bipartisan agreement on coronavirus relief like a million years ago? Well, it doesnt look like thats gonna happen again anytime soon despite the tens of millions of Americans struggling right now.

Recent Orange County elections which showcased Democrats growing mastery of vote-by-mail absentee ballots amid the pandemic served as a warning sign to Republicans who worry that the county could run up the score so much that it puts Biden over the top in this closely fought state.

Theres a lot of nervousness from Republicans over the new wave of Democrats, their ability to turn out voters and their coordination. It should be an eye-opener for Republicans, said former Republican state Rep. Mike Miller, who lost one of the county commission races.

Miller noted that Florida Republicans have always dominated casting absentee ballots, but Trumps rhetoric against voting by mail led to a sharp dropoff in the practice in his and other races. At the same time, Democrats encouraged voting by mail and Millers opponent, freshman Democratic commissioner Emily Bonilla, essentially had the race won before Election Day on Aug. 18.

The primary was a dry run for what were going to do in November, said a Biden campaign official who was not authorized to speak on record about strategy. What Orange has is a new and emerging Democratic population Latinos, progressive whites, working-class voters that we could not turn out before. We can now. We have more tools in the toolbox.

Leading the way for Democrats is the Orlando-area congressional delegation. Theres Rep. Val Demings, who was on Bidens running-mate shortlist and whose husband, Jerry Demings, is the mayor of the county. Rep. Stephanie Murphy is the first Vietnamese-American woman elected to Congress; Rep. Darren Soto is the first person of Puerto Rican descent from Florida elected to the U.S. House.

The diversity of the Democratic delegation, and the spate of recent local wins, are a testament to the rapidly changing demographics of Orange County the fifth-most populous county in Florida with a population of 1.4 million.

Mercado, the state legislator who faces token opposition from a write-in in November to win the property appraisers office, said voters with Puerto Rican heritage like her are powering population growth in Orange County and neighboring Osceola County, which is home to Kissimmee.

The VPs visit today, to the heart of the Puerto Rican community, signals his understanding of the importance of this population and his continued work and advocacy for us, said Mercado, whose mother, Carmen Torres, helped organize Puerto Rican voters in Florida for Barack Obamas two successful presidential campaigns. Mercados father, Victor Torres, is a state senator.

As the population swells in Orange, its also exporting Democrats to neighboring communities, like once-red Seminole County.

If you told me four years ago that Seminole would go blue, I wouldve laughed in your face. But its changing, said Anthony Pedicini, a top Republican operative involved in state legislative races.

Its spreading from Orlando into the surrounding areas. Just look at the highway system, its like a heart pumping blue blood in every direction from Orlando, he said.

Pedicini noted that Hispanic voters are not the ones driving the change in Seminole. Its suburban whites. Were losing too many suburban women.

Pedicini says he has seen enough GOP polling in other districts to still feel relatively good about Trumps chances in Florida, where the president marginally trails Biden in polls. One reason for the GOP optimism is that other areas of the state from Pasco County in the west of the I-4 Corridor to Daytona Beach in the regions east have gotten more Republican as a counterbalance.

But while GOP energy is high in those Republican areas, Pedicini acknowledges the presidential race is going to be a dog fight and Orange County has a reservoir of Democrats who appear enthusiastic about voting.

Democratic enthusiasm in Orange is of particular concern because the county along with its Democrat-heavy neighbor, Osceola, and South Floridas Miami-Dade and Broward has often been plagued by lower turnout rates. Had those counties turned out at the statewide average, Democrats posit, Republicans would more than likely have lost the last two governors contests, the Senate race in 2018 and the presidential race in 2016.

Osceola is always a challenge. Its one of the counties with lowest turnout, said Marcos Vilar, one of the top Democratic operatives in Central Florida. His United for Progress political committee played a pivotal role in the just-ended primaries and plans to turn out voters in November.

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'A heart pumping blue blood:' How fast-growing Orlando threatens Trump's reelection - POLITICO