David Jolly, Trump critic and ex-GOP congressman, to run for FL governor as Democrat

A former Republican congressman and vocal critic of Donald Trump says he wants to become governor in the president s adopted home state of Florida and that he s running as a Democrat David Jolly formally released his bid Thursday becoming the latest party convert hoping to wrest back control of what had been the country s premier swing state that in current years has made a hard shift to the right Under state law term-limited Republican Gov Ron DeSantis can t run for reelection in Even as Florida serves as a place for the Trump administration to poach staff and test policies Jolly says he s confident that issues such as affordability funding general schools and strengthening campaign finance and ethics laws will resonate with all voters in He predicts elections next year will herald nationwide change I really think Republicans in Tallahassee have gone too far in dividing us I think we should get politicians out of the classrooms out of the medical professional s offices Jolly disclosed I think enough people in Florida even selected Republicans now understand that That the values wars have gone too far he announced Jolly was first elected to his Tampa Bay-area congressional seat during a special poll and was reelected for one full term The attorney and former lobbyist underwent a political evolution that spurred him to leave the Republican Party in to become an independent and then a registered Democrat And he has built a national profile for himself as an anti-Trump political commentator on MSNBC Jolly revealed he has considered himself part of the Democratic coalition for five or so years and believes in what he sees as the party s fundamental values that ruling body can help people that the market system should be fair to all and that immigrants should be celebrated I struggled to exercise those values in the Republican Party Jolly stated continuing The actual registration as a Democrat wasn t a pivot It was a kind of a formality Jolly has broken from his old party on immigration as Florida lawmakers race to help Trump fulfill his promise of mass deportations Jolly skewered Republicans who he revealed have conflated immigration and crime which he described as wrong and immoral If you were born here or if you immigrated here or if you re a Tallahassee politician who steals Medicaid money we re going to be tough on crime Jolly added referring to a probe into the use of Medicaid settlement funds by a charity associated with first lady Casey DeSantis Jolly s gubernatorial run as a Democrat draws comparisons to the failed bid of former Republican congressman-turned-independent-turned-Democrat Charlie Crist who lost to DeSantis in by points It was Crist running as a Democrat who ousted Jolly from his congressional seat in Jolly joined the Florida Democratic Party at what is arguably one of its bulk vulnerable points in years Florida at this moment has no Democrats elected to statewide office and there are now million more registered Republicans than Democrats according to the state s proceeding voter rolls The GOP has made essential inroads in formerly Democratic strongholds in the state such as Miami-Dade County The day that Jolly disclosed his new affiliation the-then top Democrat in the Florida Senate Jason Pizzo revealed he was leaving the party declaring that the Democratic Party in Florida is dead Pizzo a former prosecutor has mentioned he ll launch his own run for governor as a candidate with no party affiliation On the Republican side Jolly will face Trump-backed Rep Byron Donalds who is also a frequent presence on cable news as a surrogate for the president Among the other names floated as promising GOP candidates are former Rep Matt Gaetz and Casey DeSantis