"It is sad that she has elevated her own needs above the needs of her district," Democrat says.

Summary

Florida state Rep. Susan Valdes, a lifelong Democrat, abruptly switched to the Republican Party, citing frustration with being ignored in the Democratic caucus.

Valdes, who represents District 64 near Tampa, said she wants to focus on solving problems for her community rather than protesting.

Her defection bolsters the Florida GOP’s historic 86-34 House majority, drawing criticism from Democrats who called her move a betrayal of her constituents.

Republicans, including Gov. Ron DeSantis, welcomed Valdes, praising her as a strong community advocate and valuable addition to their party.

  • halcyoncmdr@lemmy.worldEnglish
    244·
    1 day ago

    Agreed, however how do you word it to actually be effective? If you just make changing parties within X days/months of an election then they would just then not change parties. They’d stay registered as a Dem and vote with the GOP on everything. And what prevents them from just staying that way as a spoiler candidate in the future?

    The only real effective prevention for this is an educated electorate. An educated electorate is what our system was designed for. It was not truly democratic or fair for all citizens, but everyone that could vote were expected to be educated on these matters just as part of society. Not quickly trying to learn about things right before an election, but educated about politics constantly because that’s what their position in society already required. As voting rights have expanded, the systems have not been updated and voter education has dramatically fallen.

    • FiremanEdsRevenge@lemmy.world
      165·
      1 day ago

      It’s quite simple. If you win an election, you can’t switch parties.

      Edit: to add recall elections would help too.

      • moody@lemmings.world
        28·
        1 day ago

        The party makes no difference, honestly. Not in a “both sides are the same” way, but in the sense that if she’s willing to change party after getting elected, she was already going to be voting the other way regardless.

        She essentially lied about her beliefs to get elected, and then showed her real face immediately afterward. I’m honestly surprised it hasn’t happened more often. Republicans have showed many times they’re fine with breaking all the pre-established expectations just to fuck over the people.

        • frog_brawler@lemmy.world
          32·
          1 day ago

          I get where your perspective is coming from but I can assure you that the state legislature in FL 100% ignores anything presented by someone of the Democratic Party. If you want to make an actual impact, you need to have an R next to your name.

          Best bet for now is to run as a Republican, and then just push socialist stuff hard till you get primaried; and after that run anti-deep state ads as an independent to get air time and try to raise money. You’ll probably still lose for a while after the Republican party primaries you, but eventually if you get enough crazy asshole support you can reshape the party…

          Ah fuck, we already did this one…

      • halcyoncmdr@lemmy.worldEnglish
        113·
        1 day ago

        I literally just gave the example of them never switching parties and just voting opposite of their party all the time.

        We already know that half of the electorate doesn’t look past the letter next to a candidate’s name. And a lot of elections have no challenger at all against the incumbent, even in areas where people complain about their representatives a lot.

        That doesn’t actually solve a single issue, it’s just a lazy simple answer you think is some sort of gotcha, because you want a quick fix. That’s why we have shit like vague abortion bans and doctors that don’t know what is legal instead of specific guidelines they can follow, even if those guidelines are dogshit. Simple fixes are rarely good fixes, they’re just feel good fixes that actually make the issue worse when the complexity of the real world goes against it.

          • masterofn001@lemmy.ca
            2·
            1 day ago

            They could remain in the party and act / vote according to the other party lines. (This already happens)

            There really is no remedy for certain levels of corruption / deception other than that other thing we’re not allowed to talk about.

      • theneverfox@pawb.socialEnglish
        5·
        1 day ago

        I don’t understand what switching parties even really means in this context. The parties aren’t written into the framework in the first place, is she just going to run Republican next time? Is she flipping on her positions? Do they all hang out at Republican county clubs? Is she compromising and kissing the ring to further her own policies? Is she just picking the most politically advantageous moves and actually has no strong beliefs? (Probably the last one)

        • xmunk
          11·
          1 day ago

          Pretty much just the last two… and her district will probably benefit greatly from her swap as she’ll be able to pursue agendas she was previously unable to effectively push.