Florida Republicans grow supermajority as Tampa Democrat switches sides [View all]
Source: Tallahassee Democrat
Tampa state Rep. Susan Valdes on Monday switched her party registration from Democrat to Republican. The move expands the GOP majority in the House to 86-34, the largest Republican majority in the House, according to a memo from Speaker Danny Perez, R-Miami.
In a statement, Valdes, who is term limited and was recently re-elected as a Democrat, said she didn’t want to spend the next two years being “ignored” by her party.
“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.”
Valdes was a former Hillsborough County School Board member who first ran for the House as a Democrat in 2018. She has frequently criticized Republicans, especially for harsh immigration policies and rhetoric.
Read more: https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/politics/2024/12/09/susan-valdes-tampa-democrat-florida-house-rep-switches-to-republican/76862712007/
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