Unusual Drop in Tampa Bay Republican Voter Registration After the Capitol Riots

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Republican voter registration in the Tampa Bay area has decreased significantly after the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, and it may be too soon to know the impact.

There has been little debate whether the decrease in Republican voter registration in the three days following the Capitol riots was related. This may be because the drop in Republican registration was considered unusual when compared to records of the same three days from previous years.

WUSF Public Media reported, in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties alone, more than 1,000 Republicans left the party. In Hillsborough County, voting registration records show 407 Republicans became mostly No Party Affiliation or Independents in the three days after the riots.

According to Steve Newborn from WUSF Public Media, voting records show during the same three-day period last year, 65 Republicans and 100 Democrats left their parties.

The drop in registration not only came after the events on Jan. 6 but also after Congress decided to accept each state’s results of the presidential election. Republican officials voted three different ways.

U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz rejected Biden’s electors in both states and repeated false claims that rioters who broke into the Capitol were leftists posing as Trump supporters. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio rejected efforts to invalidate President-elect Joe Biden’s wins in Arizona and Pennsylvania. Sen. Rick Scott split his vote, voting to accept the results in Arizona but not in Pennsylvania.

The Tampa Bay Times reported that the stances of the officials reflect the conflicting pathways forward for a Republican Party fractured by an assault in Washington and a demoralizing special election in Georgia.

The drop in registrations in the Tampa Bay area shows a division of Republicans within the region.

Students at the University of South Florida have even spoken out about their disapproval of the riots and further show a growing division amongst Republican students in the Tampa Bay area. Some even claim that the rioters who breached the capitol are “not truly Republicans.”

Teegan Oshins, a staff writer for the student publication The Oracle, shared that those who breached the Capitol oppose many of the views of the Republican Party because their allegiance is to the president and not to the values of the GOP.”

“Long respected Republican politicians have spoken out against the Capitol riots and should promote future moderate candidates to reconstruct the Republican Party,” Oshins said.

The drop in registration and disappointment amongst Republicans has sparked conversation about future election predictions.

However, according to The Associated Press, party registration doesn’t always preview how voters will actually cast their ballots, especially when the next major national elections are nearly two years away. But party leaders across the country are expressing concern that the riots could have a lasting impact.

Only time will tell how the drop in registration will affect Florida’s voter distribution.