MIAMI—Gov. Ron DeSantis slammed Democratic lawmakers in the Florida Legislature and former party members on Tuesday for essentially having to change teams to compete in Florida's elections. The remarks come after former Senate Democratic Leader Jason Pizzo changed his party affiliation to Independent after calling his former party "dead" during a speech on the Senate floor in late April.
"Well, I think what's happening is people are reading the writing on the wall. You can't get elected with a "D" by your name in many parts of this state anymore," DeSantis told The Floridian. "Even Miami-Dade is tough, right? Because they've seen, and quite frankly, it's because we really exposed the left."
As Gov. DeSantis mentioned, Miami-Dade County is very close to flipping Republican. Notably, he won Miami-Dade in his last gubernatorial election by over 11 points.
He also listed reasons for Florida's shift to the GOP, including his willingness to keep the state open during the COVID-19 pandemic and his anti-mandate polices. In addition, DeSantis mentioned the left's fixation on gender fluidity toward children and the right's fight to stop rioting as winning arguments that were appealing to Florida voters.
"We've just drawn such a sharp contrast, I think an effective contrast. Basically, you have committed people on the left, and that's their view," DeSantis said.
That contrast has resulted in a 1.2 million Republican advantage over Democrats in Florida. DeSantis mentioned that the state had 300,000 more Democrats when he became governor in 2019.
Despite the winning message, DeSantis warned that essential "RINOS" [Republicans in name only] were infiltrating the state Legislature. Both the House and Senate are GOP-controlled.
"I think what you're seeing in the Legislature is people realize they can't get elected unless they have an "R" by their name," DeSantis said. "So you have people that are smuggling their leftism into the Republican party. And so they have an "R" by their name, but they're not governing as "R's."
DeSantis specifically called out the House, which is 3-to-1 Republican, for trying to destroy his immigration agenda at the start of Florida's special legislative session. During the regular legislative session, DeSantis has also clashed with House Speaker Daniel "Danny" Perez on other key issues.
He also has blasted former Democrats who have turned Republican.
"They haven't had an epiphany, it's just more of a pathway to power," DeSantis said. "I think for Republican voters, especially in the primaries, I think the question is gonna be just putting a party label to me has lost a lot of the meaning because the contrast is being blurred by these folks who are running as Republicans but still have leftist instincts."
🚨 @GovRonDeSantis rips Democratic lawmakers who have flipped their voter registration to @FloridaGOP
Question was directed at @senpizzo recently becoming an Independent.
"People realize they can't get elected unless they have an "R" by their name, so you have people that… pic.twitter.com/pqhrqbAXSN
— The Floridian (@Floridianpress) May 6, 2025
