More Florida voters than ever are choosing “none of the above” in their political alignment.
Dissatisfaction with political parties, the economy and healthcare have pushed the highest number of voters to register “no party affiliation.”
This no-affiliation trend could have a profound effect on one state special election — House District 36, the seat to replace Republican Rep. Mike Fasano, who was tapped to succeed Democrat Mike Olsen as Pasco Tax Collector. Olsen died June 26.
The current registration numbers for the Pasco County area show an extremely swing district, with a rough split between registered Republicans (with 36.9 percent) and Democrats (with 34.4 percent).
More telling is the 28.7 percent of “other” voters.
This is only the latest in the NPA trend. Since 1998, statewide NPA numbers have ballooned from 15 percent — when Jeb Bush ran for office — to a peak of 25 percent.
In District 36, although registration has a 2.5 percent Democrat advantage, a Republican had held the seat for years.
Another intriguing development is the flood of special elections across the state. Since 1998, there have been 11 Senate, 29 House and 2 Congressional special elections. In 1996-1997, there were only two.
Three Republicans are running for Fasano’s old seat: attorney and chair of Pasco Republicans Jim Mathieu; Presbyterian minister Bill Gunter; and new arrival Jeromy Harding, who works at an insurance company. No Democrat has announced an effort.
All of these NPA trends lead to one conclusion — in the truly swing District 36, no one can honestly predict who will win. We will only know after the Sept. 17 primary and the general election Oct. 15.
