Tuesday, 18 March 2025

Democrat From Florida’s Most Populous County Switches To Republican

100 Percent Fed Up
Hits: 16

Doral Vice Mayor Maureen Porras has left the Democrats and joined the Republican Party.

Porras is the third Florida Democrat to switch to the Republican Party since the 2024 election, joining two state representatives.

She’s the first from Miami-Dade, Florida’s most populous county, to make the move.

“There is an alarming vacuum of support for individual liberty within the Florida Democrat Party, which is why you are seeing a third elected official change their party affiliation to the Republican Party since November,” Republican Party of Florida Chairman Evan Power said.

“We welcome Vice Mayor Maureen Porras to the Republican Party of Florida and look forward to working with her and all our Republican elected officials in Miami-Dade to support the principles, policies, and values that help Florida thrive and remain free,” Power added.

“Vice Mayor Porras’ move to leave a party that no longer represents her took courage. She voiced what many Democrats say in private: the Democratic Party is too far left, too extreme, and out of touch,” the Republican Party of Miami-Dade County stated.

From the Florida GOP:

While Florida Democrat Party Chairwoman Nikki Fried frantically campaigns for reelection as state chair of the dwindling Florida Democrat Party, another Florida Democrat has flipped to the Republican Party! The Vice Mayor of the City of Doral, in Miami-Dade County, Maureen Porras, explained to the Floridian Press that the Democrat Party is infiltrated with socialist ideas. Vice Mayor Porras, a Nicaraguan American, knows firsthand what socialism and communism look like. This shift reflects what many in Miami-Dade have been telling us, particularly among Hispanic Americans, and explains why Miami-Dade County flipped red in November 2024.

Doral Vice Mayor Porras joins two former Florida Democrats in changing their party affiliation to the Republican Party of Florida: State Representatives Hillary Cassel and Susan Valdes recently made the same switch.

Valdés, whose district includes parts of Hillsborough County, was elected to her fourth term in the State House as a Democrat.

However, she decided to flip parties.

“I have spent my adult life fighting to give a voice to the people of my West Tampa home. I have done so as a Democrat partly out of habit – I come from a family of Democrats – and partly because I believed the Democrats were the party most concerned with the working families I represent,” Valdés said.

“In the House, I have long known that no one has a monopoly on good ideas. 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,” she continued.

“Effective immediately, I will change my registration from a Democrat to Republican and will join the Republican Conference in the Florida House of Representatives,” she added.

“This decision was not made lightly but comes from a deep sense of responsibility to my constituents and my commitment to the values that guide my service. I will be joining the Republican Conference of the Florida House of Representatives because I believe in their vision for a better, more prosperous Florida,” Hillary Cassel said in a statement.

“As a mother, I want to help build a world where our children are judged on their character and their actions not on their labels. As a proud Jewish woman, I have been increasingly troubled by the Democratic Party’s failure to unequivocally support Israel and its willingness to tolerate extreme progressive voices that justify or condone acts of terrorism. I’m constantly troubled by the inability of the current Democratic Party to relate to everyday Floridians. I can no longer remain in a party that doesn’t represent my values,” she continued.

Read the full statement:

A closer look:

Image

Florida Politics reports:

The Floridian first reported on Porras’ flip Wednesday. In an interview with the outlet, she cited “socialist ideas” some Democrats have embraced and Donald Trump’s victory as factoring into the move.

Porras said in a prepared statement that over the past two years as a member of the Doral Council, she worked closely with Republicans on either side of the dais and received “strong support from Republican leaders.” That support came despite her party affiliation, she said, and did not come from Democratic leaders in equal measure.

“Most importantly, while working with Republican leaders, I have felt a sense of belonging and have found significant commonalities that have allowed us to work together for the benefit of our communities,” she said.

“Regrettably, the Democratic Party has progressively moved further and further away from representing my values and those of the majority of Americans. They have prioritized the opinions of a few and neglected to understand and address the real issues affecting our communities. We have seen how socialist ideas and beliefs from communist regimes have not just seeped into the Democratic Party but have divided it.”

Porras added that the Democratic Party has misunderstood members of the Latin American community, many of whom fled oppressive socialist regimes for a better life in the U.S. She decried President Joe Biden’s decision Tuesday to remove a “State Sponsor of Terrorism” designation from Cuba, which drew bipartisan condemnation.


Source link

Search