NASSAU COUNTY, FLORIDA, Fla. — A billboard in Nassau County has some people doing a double take.
"I was in Georgia a couple of weeks ago," Jacksonville Political Science Professor Will Miller said. "And coming back home, the first billboard I see coming into Florida is a sign that says Florida is Red. Remember why you moved here,"
His memory is not far off. The signs actually reads: Welcome to Florida. Remember why you came. Vote Red.
"It's a political ad basically saying, 'you’re all coming from New York, New Jersey all liberal areas, you’re choosing to come to Florida."
That’s one way to look at it.
But Amanda Borghese, owner of AJB Renovations, paid for the sign with her co-workers. AJB Renovations is a a home renovation company in Nassau County.
Borghese told First Coast News she and her staff know that people are moving here "because they liked what's happening with our state" and because they liked the governor. She wants to remind them that they should vote Republican. She said it's important to keep life in Florida from changing.
Northeast Florida Real Estate broker Teresa Mercurio said politics are indeed prompting some people to move to the Sunshine State.
"People are coming because people feel like Governor DeSantis is bold and doing great choices for Florida, opening Florida up when all the states were not open," Mercurio said.
Borghese said now that California Governor Gavin Newsom has ads in Florida inviting people to move to his state because of politics.
She thinks it’s "good to remind people why we came and why we’re in a good situation.”
Borghese said the billboard will be up through November.
While Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has a solid support base, he also has his critics.
Miller, the political science professor, describes Florida as a purple state that is leaning red.
"It's a clever billboard," Miller said. "It gets the message across. We (he and his wife) talked about it for two hours after that."