Tallahassee, Florida (AP) – The best Democrat in Florida Senate leaves his party, declaring that “the Democratic Party in Florida is dead”.
The announcement of the minority of the Jason Pizzo Senate on the floor of the Senate on Thursday according to which he changed his recording on any affiliation of the party is the last blow to a party which has struggled to define itself after a series of overwhelming electoral losses in recent years.
Pizzo called modern “disorderly” modern supporter and said that “voters want practical leaders, not political hacks”.
Once the country's first swing stateFlorida's presidential elections were decided by the The narrowest margins. But the state has more and more slipped by the scope of DemocratsAnd the GOP has made important roads in Formerly democratic bastions like the county of Miami-Dade. There are more Republicans more numerous than democrats recorded by more than 1.2 million voters.
Pizzo is on a limited list of candidates for the post of governor for 2026. Republican governor Ron Desantis is limited to the term.
“I think that undressing the title of a festive designation allows me to run free and clear, clean and transparent, and to help many, many others,” said Pizzo on Thursday.
Nikki Fried, president of the Florida Democratic Party, called “ineffective and unpopular” pizzo in a statement after his announcement.
“Jason's failure to strengthen support for our party for a governor's race led to this last embarrassing anger. I would lie if I said that I am sad to see him, but I wish him the best luck in the political desert he created for himself,” said Fried. “The Florida Democratic Party is more united without him.”
Pizzo, a former prosecutor who represents parts of the counties of Miami-Dade and Broward in southern Florida, is known as a polished debateur ready to openly criticize the two parties, despite his leadership role.
His colleagues Democrats du Senate told journalists that they had been surprised by his announcement on Thursday, although they said that it was not out of character for the “independent thinker”.
“We are currently in a refocusing phase,” said Democratic State Senator Shevrin Jones about his party. “I wouldn't say that we died. I would say that Democrats have a lot of work to do. And I'm not going to sit here and sugar sugar at all. ”
While the Democrats were surprised by the announcement, the Florida Republican Senate office, Ben Albritton was informed Thursday morning.
In January, Pizzo told the Associated Press that he would not plan to run for governor as an independent and that he had welcomed the “challenge” to work within the Democratic Party.
A series of Florida legislators have left the Democratic Party in recent months, including state representatives. Susan Valdés And Hillary Casselwho joined the GOP. As a member of his new party, Valdés went up Thursday at the top of the platform, dressed in red, to preside over a ground session.
___ Kate Payne is a member of the body for the Associated Press / Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a non-profit national services program that places journalists from local editorial rooms to report on under-cover issues.
