More than 36,000 Florida Republicans leave GOP after the election, voter reports show

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

While three times as many Republicans changed sides after the election as Democrats, the more than 57,000 Floridians who recently changed political parties make up a small fraction of the state’s 14.5 million registered voters.

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

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

GOP state leaders downplayed the recent dropouts, believing that most former Republican voters will eventually return.

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

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In the past, voters had to visit the office of the election supervisor in their province 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,” said Clark. So if you’re angry with your political party today, you can join another party tomorrow. And join another the next day. “

The largest number of voters who change parties typically occur just before the last day to register to vote in the primaries, said Bill Cowles, Orange County’s election supervisor, followed by the post-election period.

But this year, Orange County saw a higher-than-normal number of party changes after the election.

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

News 6 spoke to about a dozen former Republicans who changed sides after the election.

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Almost all refused to be quoted by name, out of concern for their personal safety.

‘They are dangerous. You saw what they did to the Capitol, ”said a man who claimed he had been a Republican since 1988.

“I am a Republican at heart, but I am registered as a Democrat,” he said. “In my opinion, the party no longer represents decency. I am totally 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 really felt like Donald Trump had something to do with those people who stormed the Capitol,” the US Marine Corps veteran told News 6. “Once I saw that, I decided I didn’t want a part anymore. make up this party. “

But other Florida voters who left the GOP expressed frustration that fellow Republicans were no longer doing their bit to support Trump.

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“The reason I switched was my anger at the Republican Party for not fighting for the people who voted for them and getting to the bottom of the election fraud allegations,” said John Howley. ‘I will not rejoin the party until they have learned how to fight for their constituents. At least the Democrats are fighting, even though I don’t agree with 99% of their ideas. “

The Florida Republican Party has heard similar concerns.

“We have basically kept all the records and all the people who switch (parties),” Gruters said. “Most of them are voters who were angry that we might not support the president as much as we should have.”

Nearly 10,100 Democrats have switched their party participation from December 8 to February 9, state registration records show.

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

About 6,200 of those former Republicans are now registered as Democrats, reports show.

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

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

“These people are not going to want to give up their votes,” said Clark. Many of them will return to their respective parties next year as the primaries heat up. And even if you went from Republican to non-politically affiliate, it doesn’t mean you would vote for the Democrat in the general election. “

According to the state’s electoral department, on Jan. 31, there were 111,000 more than Florida Republicans.

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

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“I think we’ll catch up with the Democrats here in Florida sometime this year. We are focused on making Florida permanently red, ”said Gruters. “The advantage we have is the thousands of people fleeing these high-tax liberal states who are closed in search of freedom and liberty.”

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