TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Hundreds of demonstrators turned out in Tallahassee on Saturday, Oct. 17, for the city’s fourth No Kings protest, the last one before the Nov. 3 midterm election, and this time the main ask was simple: vote early.
The turnout was noticeably smaller than at earlier rallies in Florida’s capital city, though participants described the mood as more energetic. One group drew attention by wearing oversized papier-mâché eyeballs on their heads to signal that citizens are watching how democracy, voting rights and immigration enforcement are handled.
The No Kings movement started last summer to oppose President Donald Trump and his administration, arguing that the White House has stretched presidential power too far. Saturday’s Tallahassee event was one of more than 70 planned around Florida.
Statewide, organizers billed the day as No Kings: Vote Early and called the events nonpartisan. Their stated goals were getting people to cast ballots early, make a plan for voting and back election-protection work.
That push lines up with the calendar. Florida’s required early voting window for the midterms opens in less than two weeks, though the exact days differ from county to county.
Several people at the Tallahassee rally also pointed to the Hope Florida Foundation dispute, in which $10 million from a Medicaid settlement passed through a charity to groups fighting the 2024 marijuana amendment.
Republicans pushed back. Evan Power, who chairs the Republican Party of Florida, said the GOP has made Florida a place of freedom and pointed to a 1.54 million voter registration edge his party holds over Democrats.
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