'The Democratic Party in Florida is dead': Top Florida Senate Dem leaves party [View all]

Last edited Fri Apr 25, 2025, 08:33 AM - Edit history (1)

Source: Politico

TALLAHASSEE, Florida — State Senate Minority Leader Jason Pizzo said Thursday he is leaving the Democratic Party and that Senate Democrats will be asked to elect a new leader, yet another low moment for Florida’s downtrodden minority party.

Pizzo, considered a possible candidate for governor in 2026, said unaffiliated voters helped elect him to office. He added that the state party needed new leadership, but Democratic leaders didn’t want him to be it. The party that his late father volunteered for in the 1960s, he said, “is not the party today.”

“Here’s the issue: The Democratic Party in Florida is dead. But there are good people that can resuscitate it. But they don’t want it to be me,” he said.

Pizzo’s stunning announcement — which caught Democrats completely by surprise — of a switch to no party affiliation is just the latest blow for Florida’s beleaguered Democratic Party. The state currently has 1.2 million more registered Republicans than Democrats, and no Democrat holds statewide elected office — a far cry from Florida’s former status as the ultimate swing state.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/24/florida-pizza-democrats-unaffiliated-departure-legislature-00308629