Florida Senate minority leader says Democratic Party is 'dead,' switches to independent

Romy Ellenbogen, Miami Herald on Apr 24, 2025

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MIAMI — Sen. Jason Pizzo, the Senate Democratic leader, announced that he is switching his party registration to no-party affiliation.

Pizzo said he sent his voter registration change in on Thursday and would ask the Senate Democratic caucus to choose a new leader.

“Here’s the issue. The Democratic Party in Florida is dead,” Pizzo said. “There are good people that can resuscitate it. But they don’t want it to be me. That’s not convenient, that’s not cool.”

Pizzo said the Democratic Party today isn’t the party of his father. He said that the modern Democratic Party “craves and screams anarchy and then demands amnesty.”

“I think stripping myself of a title of a party designation allows me to run free and clear, clean and transparent and help many, many more,” Pizzo said.

Pizzo’s decision came as a surprise to his fellow Democrats in the Senate, who did not know he was making the announcement.

Sen. Shevrin Jones, D-Miami Gardens, said he wouldn’t say that the party was “dead,” but said “there is a lot of work to do.”