DYSTOPIAN: Florida Republican pushes bill to abolish the Democratic Party in state

DYSTOPIAN: Florida Republican pushes bill to abolish the Democratic Party in state

In one of the most Orwellian moves in. recent history, Florida State Senator Blaise Ingoglia (R) has introduced a bill in the legislature that will eliminate the Democratic Party in Florida as the state’s Republican Party spirals deeper down the rabbit hole of authoritarianism.

“If Floridians are not alarmed by what is coming out of Republican leadership in Tallahassee then they are not paying enough attention,” LGBTQ advocate and former Florida lawmaker, Carlos G. Smith, told local NBC affiliate, WESH2.

The “Ultimate Cancel Act” will do away with any political party that ever supported slavery.

It’s a move that turns the sins of the current Democratic Party’s 19th and early 20th century forebearers upon the modern-day political organization and absolves the current racist Republicans who are the true inheritors of the Southern Dixiecrat mantel.

Though the proposed legislation leaves the door open for the Democratic Party to reorganize, they’d have to choose an entirely new name to do so.

“It would direct the Florida Division of Elections to ‘immediately cancel the filings of a political party, to include its registration and approved status as a political party,” WESH2 wrote.

According to Florida Politics, while the Democratic Party isn’t explicitly named in the bill, Sen. Ingoglia confirmed that it’s the ultimate goal.

“For years now, leftist activists have been trying to ‘cancel’ people and companies for things they have said or done in the past,” the bill’s sponsor said. “This includes the removal of statues and memorials and the renaming of buildings.”

The senator is referring to the push to remove Confederate monuments and replace the names of schools and federal buildings with those that didn’t facilitate a war against the United States.

If SB 1248 passes, it will not only eradicate one of the country’s major political parties in the state but invalidate the Democratic registrations of millions of Florida voters.

According to a Florida Division of Elections report, roughly 4.8 million of the state’s more than 14 million voters are registered to the Democrats in the state.

“Registered voters of that party would receive notices from the state that their party has been ‘canceled’ and that they’re now no-party voters,” Florida Politics explained.

There are approximately 5.2 million registered as Republicans, and another 4 million have no party affiliation.

While it’s true that the Democratic Party once supported the institution of slavery – predominantly in Southern states – the shifting of party ideologies began to occur during the Jim Crow era.

Sen. Ingoglia’s attempt to use 150-year-old actions to justify disenfranchising half of the state’s voters and implement a one-party system in Florida is at the very least, predictable and on-brand with today’s Florida Republicans.

Former State Representative Carlos Guillermo Smith (D) is a vocal critic of the senator’s bill, taking to social media to raise awareness of what is happening in the Sunshine State.

“Republicans in Florida are so drunk with power that they are expanding their censorship agenda to even include abolishing the Democratic Party of Florida,” Smith told NBC.

The former chair of the Florida Republican Party, Sen. Ingoglia was endorsed by Governor Ron DeSantis in the 2022 Republican primary as the state’s governor appears to want to remake the Florida GOP in his own authoritarian image.

Original reporting by Greg Fox at WESH 2, and Mike Wright at Florida Politics.

Follow Ty Ross on Twitter @cooltxchick

Ty Ross

News journalist for Washington Press and Occupy Democrats.