TALLAHASSEE, Florida — State Senate Minority Leader Jason Pizzo said Thursday he is leaving the Democratic Party and that Senate Democrats will be asked to elect a new leader, yet another low moment for Florida’s downtrodden minority party.
Pizzo, considered a possible candidate for governor in 2026, said unaffiliated voters helped elect him to office. He added that the state party needed new leadership, but Democratic leaders didn’t want him to be it. The party that his late father volunteered for in the 1960s, he said, "is not the party today.”
“Here's the issue: The Democratic Party in Florida is dead. But there are good people that can resuscitate it. But they don't want it to be me," he said.
Pizzo’s stunning announcement — which caught Democrats completely by surprise — of a switch to no party affiliation is just the latest blow for Florida’s beleaguered Democratic Party. The state currently has 1.2 million more registered Republicans than Democrats, and no Democrat holds statewide elected office — a far cry from Florida’s former status as the ultimate swing state.
Two former state House representatives, Hillary Cassel and Susan Valdés, switched their party registration from Democrat to Republican in January.
Pizzo indicated that he wasn't going to the GOP because “the Republican Party has a lot of problems.”
“The pendulum is going to swing so far … that it's going to swing back,” Pizzo said.
The announcement came at the end of the state Senate’s floor session — just a day after telling critics who accused him of being a racist to “suck it.”
On Wednesday, Pizzo said during debate about a bill involving a Miami-Dade County wastewater utility that he had been accused of being a racist for calling for an audit of a local municipality.
“Here's the deal, I follow the law ...” Pizzo said from the Senate floor. “If anybody's feelings are hurt and think I'm a racist for my position — suck it.”
Sen. Rosalind Osgood (D-Tamarac) appeared to come to Pizzo's defense, saying she was “deeply sorrowful for my other colleague who's being called out in an unfair way.”
“What we're not going to do is hate each other and call each other names which are inappropriate,” she said.
Pizzo made the announcement the same day former Rep. David Jolly announced he was changing his voter registration from no-party affiliation to Democrat. Jolly also announced he was starting a political committee — one that could use the fundraising to pave the way for a 2026 gubernatorial run.
"I am very close to announcing a gubernatorial run,” Jolly said when asked to comment on Pizzo’s move. “In order to win Florida, the 2026 Democratic nominee will need to genuinely unify and inspire a coalition of Democrats, independents, and common sense Republicans. I am committed to doing my part as a Florida Democrat."
Pizzo had been seen as a centrist Democrat whose background as a former prosecutor sometimes brought him into alignment with Republicans. But he also has a caustic and biting wit and was prone to deeply sarcastic remarks in debate. Just earlier this week, he clashed with the powerful state Senate Rules Chair, who bristled at his line of questioning in a committee meeting.
That said, Pizzo usually sided with Democrats in the most visible partisan battles.
Pizzo’s financial disclosure shows he has a net worth of $59 million, more than half of which comes from the estate of his father, a developer who passed away in 2021. That fortune could help in self-funding a run for statewide office, though it’s nowhere near the wealth of former Gov. Rick Scott, now a U.S. senator.
A run for governor would also risk creating a spoiler ticket, virtually guaranteeing victory for the eventual Republican nominee.
Tallahassee insiders have been talking about whether Pizzo may seek the job of Florida attorney general instead. Pizzo has previously expressed interest in trying to run against former Rep. Matt Gaetz, who hasn’t publicly ruled out a run for state attorney general or governor — though President Donald Trump has endorsed Rep. Byron Donalds in the gubernatorial race. Pizzo declined to speak with reporters as he left the state Senate floor.
News of the departure was not received well by the Florida Democratic Party, who accused Pizzo of constantly disparaging the party and getting in fights with other members. Chair Nikki Fried called him “one of the most ineffective and unpopular Democratic leaders in recent memory” and said his exit was “one of the best things to happen to the party in years.”
She also accused Pizzo of trying to build support within the party to run for governor — though he’d told POLITICO this week that he wouldn’t make a decision about the race until September. A day earlier, Fried had welcomed Jolly to the party.
“I’d be lying if I said I’m sad to see him go, but I wish him the best of luck in the political wilderness he’s created for himself,” Fried said. “The Florida Democratic Party is more united without him.”
State House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell likewise accused Pizzo of being “completely distracted by his ambition to be governor” and said he had been “alienating himself from the Democratic Party for a long time now.”
“Democrats who aren’t focused entirely on building a party to stop Donald Trump’s dangerous chaos should get out of the way,” she said.
Some Democrats in the Legislature were more magnanimous toward Pizzo. “He just wants to be free,”state Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith said. “I mean, as far as the Democrats are concerned … we're currently in a refocusing phase. I don't want to say we're dead. I will say that the Democrats have a lot of work to do and I won't sit here and sugar coat that at all,” state Sen. Shevrin Jones (D-Miami Gardens) said. “There's a great deal of work that needs to happen. … Everyone's grown enough to make their own decision, and they have to deal with what their [constituents] within their district. I just hope that they maintain their values in which they live by, the same thing for Senator Pizzo.”
“He is certainly independent and he did what he felt was right for himself,” state Sen. Lori Berman (D-Boynton Beach) said. “And like Sen. Jones said, I think he's not going to become a far right-wing Republican by any means, and he will continue to be an effective voice here in the Florida legislature, and hopefully a voice of reason as he has been.”
After the Senate adjourned, the Democratic caucus convened and unanimously elected Berman as the new Democratic leader. Berman said she and her colleagues are “going to finish strong,” as Senate President Ben Albritton congratulated Berman shortly after the vote.
But Democratic feelings throughout Florida remained raw. Former DNC member Nikki Barnes blasted Pizzo on X Wednesday night after he made the "suck it" remark.
"Black Miami is now against you and within a few days all the Black influential organizers will be on the same page across the entire state," she wrote.
"NO DEMOCRAT in Florida can win a statewide primary without Black voters. It’s over for you."
After he made the announcement Thursday that he's leaving the party, Barnes wrote, "Don’t let the door hit you in your racist ass @senpizzo!!!!"
Isa Dominguez contributed to this report.
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