Next Steps Florida

Background

Next Step Florida was created in 2019 by Laurie Schecter to incubate non-centrist Democratic Party activists in the state of Florida. ² Next Steps Florida has derisively called the Florida Republican Party “populist,” claiming that the state level party engages in “hateful [and] nonsensical attacks” against minorities and that it seeks to alienate minorities in the state of Florida. ³

Next Steps Florida seeks to increase voter turnout for Democratic Party candidates aligned with its objectives, claiming to follow former Georgia State Rep. Stacey Abrams’s organizing approach by engaging Florida’s hard left-of-center base, persuading the middle, and alienating their opposition. ¹ Next Steps Florida’s model involves reaching newly registered voters and people who don’t generally vote in elections. ¹

Funding

In 2019, Next Steps Florida received $300,000 in contributions, ⁴ made $235,120 in expenditures, ⁵ and possessed $64,880 in assets. ⁶

Next Steps Florida routes its viewers to a donation page operated by ActBlue Civics, the political advocacy and lobbying arm of ActBlue, ⁷ a political action committee (PAC) that acts as “the online clearinghouse for Democratic [Party] action.” ⁸

Activism Incubator

Next Steps Florida operates an activism incubator to train young individuals to adopt and advocate for the views that the organization espouses. ⁹ Many Democratic Party politicians, including Obama administration Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) secretary Julian Castro, former Representative Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D-FL), and current Representative Darren Soto (D-FL), reportedly helped train participants. ⁹

In addition, the Next Steps Florida activism incubator has been supported by the left-of-center workshop and organization consulting organization Leading Change Network and Marshall Ganz. Marshall Ganz is a Harvard Kennedy School of Government professor of political organization, who is credited with devising the grassroots organizing model and training used by the 2008 Obama presidential campaign. ¹⁰

Leadership

Next Steps Florida’s founder and executive director is Laurie Schecter. ² Laurie Schecter is the daughter of real estate mogul Aaron Schecter, ¹¹ and a trustee of the Aaron and Martha Schecter Private Foundation, a left-of-center grantmaking organization created by Laurie Schecter’s parents for her and her siblings to operate. ¹² In 2021, Laurie Schecter spent $6,000 to file applications to rename streets in Hollywood, Florida that were named after Civil War generals. ¹³