Democrat state Rep. Susan Valdes is a liberal no more, she announced Monday afternoon, revealing that she has switched to the Republican Party months after winning reelection in House District 64 and a week after losing her bid to be the Democratic chair of Hillsborough County.
The party switch for Rep. Valdes, 60, gives Republicans their greatest-ever supermajority in the House with 86 Republicans to 34 Democrats.
"I will not waste my final two years in the Florida Legislature being ignored by a caucus whose leadership expects me to ignore the needs of my community," said Valdes, whose district encompasses most of West Tampa. "I'm tired of being the party of protesting when I got into politics to be the party of progress.
"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 said.
As Conservatives like Sen. Randy Fine, a congressional candidate, and House Speaker Danny Perez welcomed her to their caucus, Democrats like state Rep. Fentrice Driskell, the House Minority Leader, blasted the lawmaker's "egregious" move,
I was surprised and disappointed today at the announcement by Representative Susan Valdés," Leader Driskell said in a Monday afternoon statement. "It is sad that she has elevated her own aspirations above the needs of her district. It feels especially egregious in light of the fact that, just last week, she ran for Hillsborough County Democratic Executive Committee Chair and lost by a substantial margin.
"Susan should have trusted her constituents, not pulled a bait-and-switch after the fact," Driskell continued, pointing out Valdes's narrow reelection win last month.
Valdes was a vocal Kamala Harris supporter who criticized president-elect Donald Trump during his presidential bid. She is now the 86th Republican in the state House
