Rep. Hillary Cassel turns into the second Florida lawmaker to take action in current weeks.
Florida state Rep. Hillary Cassel on Friday grew to become the second Florida consultant on this legislative session to modify events from Democrat to Republican, in accordance with an announcement she made on social media.
“This determination was not made calmly however comes from a deep sense of accountability to my constituents and my dedication to the values that information my service. I might be becoming a member of the Republican Convention of the Florida Home of Representatives as a result of I imagine of their imaginative and prescient for a greater, extra affluent Florida. As a mom, I need to assist construct a world the place our kids are judged on their character and their actions, not on their labels.”
Cassel, partially, cited what she described because the Democratic Occasion’s “failure to unequivocally assist Israel and its willingness to tolerate excessive progressive voices that justify or condone acts of terrorism” within the Israel–Hamas battle, additionally noting that she is a “proud Jewish girl.”
“I’m consistently troubled by the lack of the present Democratic Occasion to narrate to on a regular basis Floridians,” she mentioned. “I can now not stay in a celebration that doesn’t symbolize my values.”
“Welcome to the crew,” he wrote on X.
“I really like my group, and I’ll proceed to combat day by day to profit the individuals of West Tampa, Hillsborough County, and the state of Florida,” she mentioned in a Dec. 9 assertion. “And in my coronary heart, I do know one of the simplest ways to try this is to face with Speaker Perez and be a part of the Republican supermajority within the Florida Home of Representatives.”
Perez additionally re-posted Valdes’s assertion on X and welcomed her into the Home. On the time, Home Democratic Chief Fentrice Driskell mentioned she was shocked and upset by Valdes’s announcement.
Valdes and Cassel’s change to the Republican Occasion will increase the GOP’s supermajority within the state Home of Representatives. Republicans have managed the governor’s workplace and each branches of the Legislature since 1999.
Home Democratic Chief Fentrice Driskell has not but commented on Cassel’s change to the GOP, however she lamented Valdes’s determination in a press release to information retailers earlier this month.
She claimed on the time that Valdes had “elevated her personal aspirations above the wants of her district” and was “elected by her constituents as a Democrat to combat for our shared values right here in Tallahassee and has constantly and publicly shared that she feels the Republican Occasion doesn’t adequately symbolize her constituents or her beliefs.”
The Epoch Occasions contacted Driskell’s workplace for remark however obtained no reply by publication time.
President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday congratulated Cassel on her transfer.
He additionally invited different Democrats to hitch his social gathering.
“I’d additional like to ask different Disillusioned Democrats to modify Events, and be a part of us on this noble quest to Save our Nation and, Make America Nice Once more—better than ever earlier than,” Trump wrote.
The Related Press contributed to this report.