A mass migration of Northeasterners and Midwesterners into Florida, many of them conservatives leaving Democratic states, has led to the state’s politics turning sharply to the right, experts say.
“The notion of the ‘Big Sort’ … is really proving itself,” said Matt Isbell, a Democratic elections analyst. “That’s the idea that people move based on the politics. … For a lot of retirees, places like Florida are appealing, especially if they’re already conservative.”
Many of those new residents may have been attracted to Florida because they see it as a right-leaning state, said J. Miles Coleman, associate editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, especially amid Gov. Ron DeSantis’ opposition to almost all COVID-19 restrictions.
But it also goes the other way … “If you’re a liberal retiree up in the Northeast, if you’re Jewish retiree in New York City right now, you see this stuff out of Florida, the Nazis and stuff, do you really think you’re going to come down here?” Isbell said.
What that article fails to mention is that the number of people kept from voting under one pretense or the other completely dwarfs the number of people moving to Florida from other states.
For example, a few years ago, the people of Florida voted to restore voting rights to convicted felons wo had served their time and thus paid their debt to society. The GOP reacted by imposing likely unconstitutional financial conditions, effectively re-disenfeanchising almost 775k of them for being too poor to pay for their own incarceration and enslavement.
That’s more than two and a half times as many as the total population increase of Florida last year,including births, adults moving to the state who are NOT GOP voters etc.
Then you add the fact that traditionally democratic big cities have too few polling places by design and more people who can’t take the several hours it takes to stand in line to vote in a red state city without losing their income, incurring childcare costs they can’t afford or both.
Then you have all the people who were struck from voter rolls, more than 3 times as many as the total population increase, a probable majority of which were likely Dem voters struck without a valid reason.
All in all, elderly Republicans moving to Florida is a bucket of water compared to the ocean that is Republican voter suppression.
“The notion of the ‘Big Sort’ … is really proving itself,” said Matt Isbell, a Democratic elections analyst.
(bold added for emphasis)
Maybe he’s in on the joke (?)
Edit #1:
I was being sarcastic, and thought the context was obvious.
Edit #2:
effectively re-disenfeanchising almost 775k of them for being too poor to pay for their own incarceration and enslavement.
That’s more than two and a half times as many as the total population increase of Florida last year
Yes, last year. But the article cites a multi-year trend:
Since April 2020, nearly 819,000 people have moved to Florida from within the U.S.
The reasons for Florida’s Democratic-to-Republican swing don’t necessarily have to be either one or the other; they can be both, which in this case they are.
source: Orlando Sentinel, via Internet Archive
What that article fails to mention is that the number of people kept from voting under one pretense or the other completely dwarfs the number of people moving to Florida from other states.
For example, a few years ago, the people of Florida voted to restore voting rights to convicted felons wo had served their time and thus paid their debt to society. The GOP reacted by imposing likely unconstitutional financial conditions, effectively re-disenfeanchising almost 775k of them for being too poor to pay for their own incarceration and enslavement.
That’s more than two and a half times as many as the total population increase of Florida last year,including births, adults moving to the state who are NOT GOP voters etc.
Then you add the fact that traditionally democratic big cities have too few polling places by design and more people who can’t take the several hours it takes to stand in line to vote in a red state city without losing their income, incurring childcare costs they can’t afford or both.
Then you have all the people who were struck from voter rolls, more than 3 times as many as the total population increase, a probable majority of which were likely Dem voters struck without a valid reason.
All in all, elderly Republicans moving to Florida is a bucket of water compared to the ocean that is Republican voter suppression.
(bold added for emphasis)
Maybe he’s in on the joke (?)
Edit #1:
I was being sarcastic, and thought the context was obvious.
Edit #2:
Yes, last year. But the article cites a multi-year trend:
The reasons for Florida’s Democratic-to-Republican swing don’t necessarily have to be either one or the other; they can be both, which in this case they are.
As if liberal “analysts” aren’t frequently jokes themselves 🙄
No he’s just getting interviewed for the article. He’s right about the big sort.