Voice of the Voters is a series by FOX 4's Senior Reporter Ryan Kruger highlighting the perspectives and views of local voters as they head to the polls.
You have to go back nearly 50 years, to 1976, to find the last time DeSoto County went for the Democratic Presidential candidate.
All indications show 2024 will be another Republican year for the rural southwest Florida county.
In the lead up to Election Day, Fox 4 is speaking with voters in every community of southwest Florida to find out what is driving them to the ballot box.
At the Oak Park Inn in Arcadia’s historic district, owner Sanjay Patel plans to vote in his first ever U.S. Presidential election.
“I am excited,” said Patel, who has lived in the U.S. for more than two decades but never got involved politically.
“I want to see this country go in the right direction.”
Republican roots run deep in DeSoto County.
In 2020, then-President Donald Trump won nearly twice as many votes as President Biden in the county.
Many voters who spoke with Fox 4 say they’re hoping to see the same this year.
“We need to get Trump re-elected,” said Bonnie Molloy.
“There’s a lot of elderly people here, we have a lot of mobile home parks, they’re having a hard time,” said Roseanne Collins.
For Patel, it may have taken him 20 years go vote in a Presidential election but he’s hoping others follow his lead.
“I really think that every person who can vote, they need to vote,” Patel said.
