More than 36,000 Florida Republics leave GOP after election, voter records show

ORLANDO, Fla. More than 36,000 Florida voters previously registered as Republicans have left the GOP since the November election, a news 6 survey of the state’s voter records revealed.

Although three times as many Republicans changed their party affiliation as the Democrats after the election, the 57,000-plus Floridians who recently switched from political parties are a small fraction of the state’s 14.5 million registered voters.

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Several former Republicans cite the January 6 riot at the US Capitol as a factor in their decision to abandon the party, while others express frustration that some GOP leaders do not support former President Donald Trump as much as they do. would not prefer.

“(Changing party affiliation) gives people the feeling that they have protested in some way,” said Jim Clark, political analyst at News 6, a professor of history at the University of Central Florida. “It’s not going to make a difference in an election at all.”

State GOP leaders underestimated the recent apostasy and believed that most former Republican voters would eventually return.

“It’s not a big deal,” said Joe Gruters, chairman of the Florida Republican Party. “I think these people will finally vote for the Republican candidate at the end of the day, because when they registered as Republicans, they believed in the core principles of personal responsibility and individual freedom.”

FILE – In this January 6, 2021, photo insurgents are loyal to President Donald Trump’s riot outside the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo / John Minchillo, file)

In the past, voters had to visit their office’s election supervisor to change their party affiliation. About three years ago, the state began allowing voters to update their registration information online.

“It’s very easy to do,” Clark said. ‘So if you’re upset about your political party today, you can join another party tomorrow. And then join another the next day. ‘

According to Orange County Supervisor Bill Cowles, most voters changed party affiliation just before the last day to register to vote before the primary election, followed by the period after an election.

But this year, Orange County has achieved a greater amount of change than usual.

“The switch was more extreme as a result of the January 6 attack on the Capitol,” Cowles said.

News 6 spoke to a dozen former Republicans who changed their party affiliation after the election.

Almost everyone did not want to be quoted by name and mentioned their concern about their personal safety.

“They are dangerous. You saw what they did to the Capitol, ” said one man, claiming to have been a Republican since 1988.

In this photo file on February 2, 2021, the Acting Chief of Police of the American Capitol, Yogananda Pittman, pays tribute to the American Police Officer of the Capitol, Brian Sicknick, in the Capitol Rotunda in Washington. (Erin Schaff / The New York Times via AP, Pool)

“I’m a Republican at heart, but I’m registered as a Democrat,” he said. “In my opinion, the party no longer represents decency. I am completely blown away by this fanatical belief in (Trump). ”

Another former Republican voter, who asked for anonymity over concerns about the safety of his family, also blamed the former president for his decision to switch his voter registration to No Party Affiliation.

“I honestly felt that Donald Trump had something to do with the people storming the Capitol,” the U.S. Marine Corps veteran told News 6. “After seeing it, I decided I did not want to be part of this party anymore.”

But other Florida voters who left the GOP expressed frustration that fellow Republicans had done no more to support Trump.

“The reason I switched was my anger towards the Republican Party because they did not fight for the people who voted for them and that the accusations of election fraud came to the ground,” John Howley said. “I will not rejoin the party until they learn how to fight for their constituents. The Democrats are fighting at least, even though I do not agree with 99% of their ideas. ”

The Republican Party of Florida has heard similar concerns.

“We basically tracked all the data and all the people switching (parties),” Gruters said. “Most of them are voters who were upset because we may not have been so supportive of the president.”

Nearly 10,100 Democrats converted their party commitment from Dec. 8 to Feb. 9, according to state registrations.

During the same period, 36,219 Republicans changed party.

About 6,200 of the former Republicans are now registered as Democrats, according to the records.

Meanwhile, more than 21,000 former Republicans recently registered as No Party Affiliates.

Only Florida voters registered with a political party can run in the party’s primary election.

“These people will not want to give up their vote,” Clark said. ‘Many of them will return to their respective parties next year when the by-elections heat up. And even if you went from Republican to non-political, that does not mean you would vote for the Democrat in the general election. ”

Registered Democrats had less than 111,000 numbers of Republicans in Florida on Jan. 31, according to the State Electoral Division.

Gruters said the Florida Republican Party is beginning to register voters to win back those who recently left the party while recruiting newcomers to the state.

“I think we’ll catch up with the Democrats in Florida this year. We are focusing on making Florida permanently red, ”Gruters said. “The advantage we have is thousands of people fleeing these liberal states with high taxes locked up in the pursuit of freedom and liberty.”

More than 126,000 Florida Democrats changed their party affiliation with Republican in the two years before the November 2020 election, News 6 previously reported, while 72,000 Republicans switched to the Democratic Party.

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