Democrat Florida State Rep. FLIPS Republican, Expanding GOP Supermajority!

Florida State Rep. Susan Valdes is the latest Democrat who has become so disappointed in her party and what it represents that she is changing sides.

Shortly after winning re-election, Rep. Valdes announced that she is becoming a Republican.

BREAKING: Florida Rep. Susan Valdes switches from Democrat to Republican, citing her former party’s neglect of her community’s needs. pic.twitter.com/gjLS6wvKqn

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) December 9, 2024

In a statement, she explained that she feels ignored by Democrats and is “tired of being the party of protesting when I got into politics to be part of the party of progress” and feels that she can only get things done for her constituents as a Republican!

Here’s her full statement:

See statement below… pic.twitter.com/JUVhsziSL7

— Susan L. Valdés (@SusanLValdesFL) December 9, 2024

The Tampa Bay Times reported:

In the Republican wave election year of 2024, one of the few Democratic bright spots was Susan Valdés.

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The former school board member held her Democratic-leaning Tampa-based state House district. With the victory, Democrats got to keep one of the few established incumbents in the fold of their ever-shrinking Tallahassee minority.

As it turns out, Democrats don’t get to keep Valdés at all.

On Monday, she announced in a post on X that she was switching her party affiliation to Republican. In the upcoming legislative session, Valdés will caucus with the GOP.

“I will not waste my final two years in the Florida Legislature being ignored in a caucus whose leadership expects me to ignore the needs of my community,” Valdés posted in a statement to X. “I’m tired of being the party of protesting when I got into politics to be part of the party of progress.”

Democrats have trouble at times keeping their members from voting with the Republican majority in Tallahassee. Because Republican leaders control the budget, there’s a strong incentive for individual members to toe the Republican line to bring money back to their districts.

International Business Times added:

In a surprising political shift, Florida Representative Susan Valdes announced her decision to leave the Democratic Party and join the Republican Conference in the Florida House of Representatives.

The move comes shortly after her re-election as a Democrat, a role she has held while representing her West Tampa community.

Citing frustration with the Democratic Party’s approach, Valdes declared her intent to align with Republicans to focus on practical solutions. “I will not waste my final two years in the Florida Legislature being ignored in a caucus whose leadership expects me to ignore the needs of my community,” Valdes stated in her announcement.

Welcome aboard, Susan!