A Republican bill seeks to wipe out the Florida Democratic Party, following the filing of Senate Bill 1248 “The Ultimate Cancel Act.” If passed, the bill would de-certify any political party and its affiliates, that previously advocated for slavery in their party’s platform.
The legislation was proposed by State Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill. Ingoglia’s office announced the filing in a press release, where they also made claims that the Democrat Party adopted “pro-slavery” positions into their platforms during the conventions of 1840, 1844, 1856, 1860, and 1864.
Florida currently has 4.8 million registered Democratic voters, according to the state’s division of elections. If passed, the act would also force such voters to register under “no-party affiliation.”
The bill comes as a direct response to “leftist activists and their attempts to cancel people and companies.”
“For years I’ve been watching leftist Democrats cancel people, peoples, and things for things that have happened in the past 250 years ago,”’ said Ingoglia. “I thought it was hypocritical that you have these Democrats wanting to remove statues or rename buildings because of things that tied back to slavery. Well under that same metric, then the Florida Democrat, the Democrat Party itself, should be cancelled.”
Florida Democratic Party chairwoman Nikki Fried, accused the bill to be supported by Rep. Fl Gov. Ron DeSantis, as she told reporters that the country will see more of the same if DeSantis is elected president and that the filing is “a wakeup call to Americans.”
“I’m not surprised that Ron DeSantis under his administration would the behind a piece of legislation like this”, said Fried. “Canceling the voices of millions upon millions of Floridians here in the state of Florida. This is what a dictator does.”
Ingoglia, an ally of DeSantis, responded that he in fact wrote the bill in its entirety, without the backing of the governor, despite Fried’s claims.
“This is a bill that I wrote, the Governor did not know anything,” said Ingoglia. “In fact, I don’t now if he knows that the bill has actually been filed. What is interesting about Nikki Fried and her comments is, she never refuted that the information in my press release and the bill is not accurate, because Nikki Fried knows that its accurate.”
If passed, this law would take effect July 1, 2023.
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