Florida Senate Minority Leader Jason Pizzo announced Thursday that he has left the Democratic Party and submitted paperwork to register as a voter with no party affiliation.
Pizzo, who was first elected to the Florida State Senate in 2018 and named to party leadership in 2023, revealed his decision on the Senate floor near the end of the day’s session. In a speech outlining his concerns with the modern Democratic Party, he referred to both the party and the broader two-party system in the state as “dead.” He also credited his past electoral success to the state’s independent voters and said that serving without a party label would allow him to “run free and clear, clean and transparent, and help many, many more.”
Readers can watch Pizzo’s full remarks in the official recording of Thursday’s Senate session available here, beginning at the 4:07:15 mark.
Following his announcement and formal resignation from leadership, Senator Lori Berman was unanimously selected to replace him as minority leader. His departure comes less than a week before the scheduled end of the state’s legislative session.
The Florida Senate has 40 seats, currently held by 27 Republicans, 10 Democrats, and now one independent following his switch. Two seats are vacant. In the House, Republicans hold 86 of the 120 seats, Democrats hold 33, and one seat is vacant. The Democratic Party has not held a majority in either chamber since the early 1990s.
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