Florida Democrats running for the state's top offices are pretending they never met their party's progressive agenda — because they know it loses.

In Tuesday's primaries, the Democratic frontrunners for Senate and governor aren't just distancing themselves from the left's cultural revolution. They're running against it. Retired Lt. Col. Alex Vindman, leading the Senate primary, is pitching himself as "a different kind of Democrat" and bragging about his handguns and concealed carry permit. David Jolly, the favorite for the gubernatorial nomination, told the Associated Press he has no plans to reverse Ron DeSantis's ban on biological men competing in women's sports. "I don't think we should have biologically born men playing in competitive sports," Jolly said — a position The Guardian noted is "starkly at odds" with progressive victors elsewhere like Michigan's Abdul El-Sayed, who promised to be "a lion" for LGBTQ+ rights.

This isn't moderation. It's surrender. When your party's standard-bearers in a major state won't touch the policies the national coalition champions, the agenda has already been rejected — by your own side.

The Guardian framed it as a strategic choice: progressive liberalism "won't cut it with voters in conservative Florida." But the honest reading is that it won't cut it with voters, period. Florida was a swing state. It moved right because Democrats kept pushing positions ordinary people don't want.

Vindman, the impeachment witness turned Senate candidate, is running a "Florida First" campaign focused on the economy, Social Security, and "corruption in Washington" — not the trans agenda, not climate mandates, not racial equity programs. "My race is entirely focused on my opponent," he said. Translation: don't ask me about my party's platform.

Jolly, a former Republican congressman who switched parties last year, is being attacked by Republican frontrunner Byron Donalds as a "radical liberal" and transgender supporter. Jolly's response? Shrug it off and pivot to what The Guardian reported he calls issues that matter to "regular" Floridians — property costs, insurance, gas, and groceries — "instead of focusing on culture war issues." But protecting women's sports isn't a culture war. It's a fairness issue most Americans already decided.

The pattern is familiar. Democrats nominated former Republican Charlie Crist for governor in 2022. He lost to DeSantis by nearly 20 points, according to the AP. Now they're trying the same playbook with another former Republican. As both the AP and Europe Says noted, Jolly is "hoping ultimately to prove a party-switching former Republican can actually carry the Democratic banner in a state where that's failed before."

On the Republican side, Trump is consolidating his grip. He's endorsed Ashley Moody for Senate and Byron Donalds for governor. According to Breitbart, he's also backed Sydney Gruters in District 16 and Catalina Lauf in District 19, a race featuring a crowded field including former Reps. Madison Cawthorn and Chris Collins. Florida's Republican registration advantage now stands at 1.5 million over Democrats, and the state's closed primaries mean only registered party members pick nominees.

The question isn't whether Florida Democrats have abandoned progressivism. They clearly have. The question is whether voters will believe the pivot — or whether running from your own record is harder than running from your opponent.