Florida lawmaker adjustments get together affiliation
Weeks after profitable reelection as a Democrat, Florida Rep. Susan Valdes is switching to the Republican Social gathering. FOX 13’s Matthew McClellan explains the explanation she’s giving for the choice.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Elected 4 occasions to the state Home as a Democrat, Tampa lawmaker Susan Valdes on Monday added to Republicans’ supermajority.
Valdes introduced she had develop into a Republican, saying she anticipated to be “welcomed and handled with respect” by her new get together. The transfer, which drew a rebuke from Home Minority Chief Fentrice Driskell, D-Tampa, got here per week after Valdes misplaced a bid to develop into chairwoman of the Hillsborough County Democratic Govt Committee.
In an announcement posted on X, Valdes mentioned she didn’t wish to “waste” her ultimate two years within the Legislature “being ignored in a caucus whose management expects me to disregard the wants of my neighborhood.”
Weeks after profitable reelection as a Democrat, Florida Rep. Susan Valdes is switching to the Republican Social gathering.
“I’m bored with being the get together of protesting once I received into politics to be a part of the get together of progress,” Valdes mentioned.
Valdes additionally pointed to a “imaginative and prescient” laid out by Home Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, that “focuses on empowering Home members to work on actual issues going through our communities.”
Valdes added that she didn’t anticipate to agree with “my fellow Republicans” on each concern, however “that of their caucus, I shall be welcomed and handled with respect.”
Perez hailed the transfer, which expanded the GOP supermajority to 86 members within the 120-seat Home. It was one other blow to Democrats, whose hopes of chopping into the supermajority have been dashed within the Nov. 5 elections.
“I so not often get to ship a communication solely in my function as Republican chief, however I’m thrilled at the moment to announce that Consultant Susan Valdes has modified her voter registration from Democrat to Republican,” Perez mentioned in an electronic mail. “Everyone knows Susan as a fierce advocate for her neighborhood, and an individual of unusual frequent sense. She shall be an incredible asset to our Republican workforce.”
Driskell, in an announcement, known as the transfer “particularly egregious,” as Valdes ran final week for the county Democratic management submit and “misplaced by a considerable margin.”
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Final month, Valdes was re-elected in Hillsborough County’s Home District 64, defeating Republican Maura Cruz Lanz by 4.8 share factors. It was a rematch of a 2022 contest, when Valdes gained by 6.6 share factors.
“Susan ought to have trusted her constituents, not pulled a bait-and-switch after the very fact,” Driskell mentioned Monday.
Driskell mentioned Valdes has “elevated her personal aspirations” and “has persistently and publicly shared that she feels the Republican Social gathering doesn’t adequately signify her constituents or beliefs.”
Valdes, a former Hillsborough County College Board member, was first elected to the Home in 2018 and was re-elected 3 times. She shall be pressured to depart the Home in 2026 due to time period limits.
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