A Florida lawmaker says he is now ready to concede defeat in the primary election, and is stopping efforts to challenge a ballot count. Democratic Representative John Patrick Julien of Miami says he’s now also seriously thinking about switching parties, but it's not a concrete decision as yet.
Julien says he’s seriously thinking of switching parties, but it’s not a concrete decision as yet:
"I understand that making a party switch, it also means that I would never be able to run for political office again, and when I make that decision, there's going to be a whole bunch of things that are going to go into making that decision," said Julien.
“Leaving the Democratic Party does not mean that I would go to the Republican Party. I could possibly go Independent. But, I don’t believe that I would be leaving the Democratic Party, I believe the Democratic Party has left me by not respecting me as an individual.”
Julien says during his time in the Florida Legislature, the Democratic Party was not happy by several of his votes, like when he voted in favor of school voucher programs.
Meanwhile, Julien was also embroiled in a battle with Representative Barbara Watson, over their newly drawn House District seat. At issue was 16 contested ballots in the primary race, which Julien lost, and landed both in court. A judge decided in favor of Watson, and Julien, at first, planned to take the matter up with the Florida Legislature. But, he has since decided against it.
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