There has been a growing trend of Democratic politicians switching parties. In the last year, particularly, there have been numerous party...
There has been a growing trend of Democratic politicians switching parties. In the last year, particularly, there have been numerous party switches throughout the U.S.
Take Harriet Holman for example.
Holman is a Democratic council member in Dorchester County, South Carolina. Or rather, she was a Democrat. Holman has announced that she has switched political parties and will be running for re-election as a Republican.
What brought this change?
“Some things that I had looked at, that I just didn’t agree with any longer,” Holman said on Fox News.
“One of the things was that I am just totally pro-life, and I am about capitalism, and I am for funding the police. And so those things are what made me make my final decision,” she added.
Holman was elected as a Democrat in 2019. But since then, she said she has watched things going on across the country, and she find herself disagreeing with the Democratic party.
“I have looked at things that are going on in the country right now, and some things I don’t agree with, and I agree with the republican agenda,” Holman said, WCSC reported.
“I decided to make the switch because first it was in my heart. I am a conservative, and I have been living that lifestyle for years.”
Holman is a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the Army and has been considering making this party switch for more than six months.
Holman has made her switch clear to her constituency and said that she is not changing anything she has previously stood for — just her political party.
“I have talked to my constituents, and one thing that my constituents know is that I am still Harriet Holman,” Holman told WCSC. “There’s an ‘R’ behind my name, but I still work and am a servant for the people in Dorchester County.”
Holman is just one example of many who are making a party switch though.
In 2021, several state level lawmakers switched parties, Ballotpedia reported.
Four Democrats in state Houses of Representatives switched from Democrat to Republican.
But outside of politicians, there has been an overall shift in American politics.
Gallup reported in January that 2021 marked a large shift in political parties for all American voters. Preferences shifted from a nine-point Democratic advantage to a five-point GOP edge.
Many are expecting there to be a “red wave” of Republican favor in the 2022 midterm elections.
There has been a drastic and fast shift away from the Democratic party.
In the first quarter of 2021 Democrats enjoyed the largest lead that the party has seen since the fourth quarter of 2012, Gallup reported.
Gallup also noted that the shift in party lines is very tied to voters’ views of President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. When Democrats had the advantage at the beginning of 2021, Biden’s approval numbers were pretty high.
But then with COVID, the Afghanistan withdrawal and rising inflation, Biden’s numbers sagged, and the Democrat’s lead followed suit.
This trend will continue to play out over the next months, and all eyes are on the midterm elections to see what party the American population will favor.
Holman switching sides could just be one example of a new trend.
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