Florida Lawmaker Abruptly Switches to GOP Shortly After Winning Election as Democrat
10th December 2024
Salon, a Voice of the Crust.
Florida state Rep. Susan Valdes switched her party registration from Democrat to Republican on Monday, bolstering the GOP’s largest-ever majority in the House, The Tampa Bay Times reported.
“In the House, I have long known that no one has a monopoly on good ideas,” Valdes wrote in a statement posted on X. “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.”
A former Hillsborough County School Board member, Valdes first ran for House as a Democrat in 2018 and was elected to represent District 64, outside of Tampa.
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“I want to roll up my sleeves and work. I want to be part of solving problems for West Tampa. I’m tired of being the party of protesting when I got into politics to be part of the party of progress,” she wrote, adding that she won’t agree with her fellow Republican House members on every issue.