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Just this month, Rep. Susan Valdés announced she had changed her party affiliation from Democrat to Republican. In a lengthy statement, Valdés lamented that the Democratic caucus’ “leadership expects me to ignore the needs of my community” and claimed that she had been ignored.
But there’s an interesting caveat to consider. Less than a week before the party swap, Valdés had been running for Chair of the Hillsborough County Democratic Party, and losing by a big margin.
While the swap does little to tip the balance of power in Tallahassee, it did hand the GOP its largest House majority ever.
– Janelle Irwin, Florida Politics