The Mississippi Republican Party Chairman says he doesn’t expect this will be the last time they are welcoming new members to the GOP.
“We have had a relentless focus on switching conservative Democrats over to the Republican party,”
“They recognize increasingly that there is only one party that represents the conservative values of our state and that is the Republican party.”
Governor Tate Reeves noted:
“We are in a scenario in this country where you can choose to be a member of the party led by Donald J. Trump or you can choose to be a member of the socialist Democratic party led by Bernie Sanders,”
Millsaps Department of Government and Politics chair Dr. Nathan Shrader says:
“They have a plausible argument to make with these elected officials that your constituent are already aligning with us, the voting patterns in your district are moving in our direction, you should join the team too,”
One of the party switchers echoed that thought:
“There are conservatives Democrats all across the state of Mississippi and there was once upon a time when the conservative Democrats controlled this state,”
“It’s a new day in Mississippi and I believe the Republican party is growing and there’s a place in the Republican party for people like me.”
As of February 2020, Ballotpedia staff have counted 126 state legislators who have switched parties since 1994. Ballotpedia has counted 35 state senators who have switched parties and 91 state representatives.
Number of state lawmakers who switched from Democrat to Republican: 71
State senators: 22
State representatives: 49
Number of state lawmakers who switched from Republican to Democrat: 19
State senators: 6
State representatives: 13
ballotpedia.org/State_legislators_who_have_switched_political_party_affiliation
h/t CrsCrpr