More than 36,000 Florida Republicans quit GOP after election, voter registers show

ORLANDO, Florida – More than 36,000 Florida voters previously registered as Republicans have left the GOP since the November election, a News 6 review of the state’s voters lists revealed.

Although three times as many Republicans changed party affiliation as Democrats after the election, the 57,000 Floridians who recently changed political parties are only a small fraction of the 14.5 million registered voters in the country. the state.

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Several former Republicans cited the January 6 riot on Capitol Hill as a factor in their decision to quit the party, while others expressed frustration that some GOP leaders did not support former President Donald Trump as much. that they would have preferred.

“(Changing party affiliation) makes people feel like they’ve protested somehow,” said Jim Clark, political analyst at News 6, professor of history at the University of Central Florida. “It won’t make any difference in an election.”

State GOP leaders have played down recent defections, believing that most of the former Republican voters will eventually return.

“It’s not that bad,” said Joe Gruters, Chairman of the Florida Republican Party. “I think these people will end up voting for the Republican candidate at the end of the day because, when they registered as a Republican, they believed in the fundamentals of personal responsibility and individual freedom.”

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

“It’s extremely easy to do,” Clark said. “So if you’re angry with your political party today, you can join another one tomorrow. And then join another the next day. “

The largest number of voters who change party affiliation typically occurs just before the last day to register to vote before the primary elections, according to Orange County Election Supervisor Bill Cowles, followed by the period after an election.

But this year, Orange County has seen a higher than usual volume of post-election party changes.

“The change was more extreme because of the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6,” Cowles said.

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

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Almost all declined to be cited by name, citing concerns for their personal safety.

“They are dangerous. You saw what they did on Capitol Hill, ”said one man who claimed to be a Republican since 1988.

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

Another former Republican voter, who requested anonymity due to concerns about the safety of his family, also blamed the former president for his decision to switch his voter registration to no party affiliation.

“Honestly, I felt like Donald Trump had something to do with these people who stormed the Capitol,” the US Marine Corps veteran told News 6. “Once I Witnessing this, I decided that I no longer wanted to be part of that party.

But other Florida voters who left the GOP have expressed frustration that fellow Republicans have not done more to support Trump.

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“The reason I changed leadership was my anger at the Republican Party for not fighting for the people who voted for them and for getting to the bottom of the voter fraud charges,” said John Howley. “I won’t join the party until they learn to fight for their constituents. At least the Democrats are fighting, even though I disagree with 99% of their ideas.

The Florida Republican Party has heard similar concerns.

“We basically tracked all the data and all the people who change (parts),” Gruters said. “Most of them are voters who were upset that maybe we weren’t supporting the president as much as we should have.”

Nearly 10,100 Democrats changed their party affiliation from Dec.8 to Feb.9, according to state voter registration records.

During this same period, 36,219 Republicans changed parties.

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

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

Only Florida voters registered with a political party can participate in that party’s primary elections.

“These people won’t want to forfeit their vote,” Clark said. “Many of them will return to their respective parties next year when the primaries warm up. And even if you went from Republican to politically unaffiliated, that doesn’t mean in the general election that you would vote Democrat.

Registered Democrats outnumbered Republicans in Florida by under 111,000 as of Jan. 31, according to the state’s Elections Division.

Gruters said the Florida Republican Party is launching voter registration efforts to win back those who have recently left the party while recruiting newcomers to the state.

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“I think we’ll overtake the Democrats this year here in Florida. We are focused on making Florida red permanently, ”said Gruters. “The advantage we have are the thousands of people fleeing these liberal, high-tax states that have been shut down in search of freedom and liberty.”

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