MIAMI – Florida will take a back seat in this year’s presidential election. Literally, a back seat.

The delegates from Florida in Democratic National Convention in Chicago arrived early today and found themselves at the back of the United Center – as far from the main stage as one can be.

Even South Dakota has better seats than Florida.

South Dakota!

“We are sitting in stepchild territory,” a delegate from Florida told CBS News Miami.

“Sure, some delegations are at the front, but the Florida delegates have the best access to the bathrooms,” joked another delegate. “Take that, Pennsylvania!”

Placing each state in the convention hall can be even more complicated than planning the seating at a wedding. (And if it were a wedding, Florida would be sitting at the table with the weird unmarried cousins ​​that no one wants to talk to.)

Some choices are obvious. California is at the top because candidate Kamala Harris is from California. Minnesota, where vice presidential candidate Tim Walz is from, has a prime seat in the House. Illinois, the host of the convention, and Delaware, President Biden’s home state, also have prime spots.

But there are also some strategic placements. Pennsylvania, the key swing state in this year’s election, is front and center. In fact, they’re sitting so close to the stage that if rumors of a Beyoncé performance at Thursday’s convention are true, they’ll have the best seats in the house. (Florida delegates might want to bring their binoculars.)

Other swing states – Michigan, Wisconsin and North Carolina – also received top spots. The Georgia delegation is present, as is Arizona.

Some states have prime seats because of the influence of their politicians. The New York delegation is right in the middle of it all, and you have to imagine that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries are both from New York.

In previous election cycles, Florida used its influence as the most swing state in the country with great seats. Now they are in the back and some of their seats are partially obscured by a platform for cameras and the audio control booth.

There could be other reasons why Florida was lagging behind. Perhaps it was a way to snub Donald Trump’s adopted home state, for example.

After CBS Miami noted the seat of the Florida delegation, Florida Republican Party Chairman Evan Power responded by saying, “I guess no one believes @NikkiFried and the @FlaDems” when they claim Florida is still in the race in November. Nikki Fried is the chair of the Democratic Party.

In recent weeks, Democrats in Florida have suggested that Florida may still be up for grabs now that Harris is at the top of the ballot. However, as Harris and Walz have traveled across the country to key swing states over the past two weeks, they have bypassed Florida. Additionally, Republicans now have a big lead in voter registration in Florida, where they have nearly a million registered voters ahead of Democrats.

Shevrin Jones, chairman of the Miami-Dade County Democratic Party, said he was not upset about the seating arrangement he and his fellow Florida delegates had. “I think we’re just excited to be here in the room and to witness the nomination of the first Black woman to be president of the United States,” he told CBS Miami. “I will say this, though: The Bible says the last shall be first! When the results come in on November 5th, everyone will see that we really meant it when we said we were going to take Florida back.”