SOUTHWEST FLORIDA – An increasing number of local voters are snubbing the democratic and republican parties, as more of them register with no party affiliation.
In the last month, 1,300 Lee County voters registered as no party affiliation outpacing those for democrats and republicans.
Only 736 new voters registered as republican and 201 voters registered as democrats in Lee County in that timeframe.
The same spike is also playing out in Collier and Charlotte counties.
“It’s one of the fastest growing numbers that we have statistically right now. It’s growing amazingly,” said Lee County Election Director Sharon Harrington.
Some voters feel the major parties are losing voters for a reason.
“I think we’ve gotten lost with the parties – I think the parties are getting very self-serving,” said voter Darlene McElvoy.
The numbers do show McElvoy’s sentiment is part of a growing force in Florida. There are 547,000 more voters statewide than during the 2010 election, while 78 percent of those voters registered with parties other than republicans or democrats.
“When they hear independent they tend to think these are the people in the middle, that’s not necessarily true,” said Southwest Florida College Political Science Professor Laura Weir.
Rodney Rhimes is one of them – he used to be a republican and switched to no party affiliation.
“They do what fits their agenda and do what fits them best instead of listening to the people that got them into the office that they’re actually working for,” said Rhimes.
With such a large number of new voters declaring no allegiance to either party, political analysts say the group is sure to sway any race.
“We generally know how republicans will vote and how democrats will vote, but we have no idea how these people (no party affiliation) will vote,” said Harrington.
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