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A state senator proposes a plan to cancel the Florida Democratic Party

A Republican bill seeks to wipe out the Florida Democratic Party, following the filing of SB 1248 “The Ultimate Cancel Act” on Tuesday. If passed, the bill would de-certify any political party and its affiliates, that previously advocated for slavery on 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.”

Ingoglia’s proposal 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, places, and things for things that have happened in the past 250 years,”’ said Ingoglia. “I thought it was hypocritical that you have these Democrats wanting to remove statues or rename buildings because of things that tie back to slavery. Well, under that same metric, then, the Florida Democrat, the Democrat Party itself, should be canceled.”

Some prominent Democratic government officials responded to the proposal in outrage. Chairman of Leon County’s democratic executive committee, Ryan Ray described Ingoglia’s bill as a continuation of “extreme legislation from Republicans.”

“When it comes to today’s right-wing republicans, fascist attacks on the fundamentals of democracy and all that is good and secure in our state,” said Ray. “I have no question whatsoever which party Abraham Lincoln would side with today.”

Florida Democratic Party chairwoman Nikki Fried, accused the bill of being 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 know 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 it is.”

The senator did not want to “speculate” on the likelihood of the law passing, but states he intends to “apply the same benchmark,” that he is claiming was already set by Democrats.

–If you think about it, the democrats are the ones who are canceling people about the things that have happened in the past, we’re just following their rules. --We’re going to have to see. I don’t speculate on whether the legislation could pass or not.”

If passed, this law would take effect July 1, 2023.

Adrian Andrews is a multimedia journalist with WFSU Public Media. He is a Gadsden County native and a first-generation college graduate from Florida A&M University. Adrian is also a military veteran, ending his career as a Florida Army National Guard Non-Comissioned Officer.

Adrian has experience in print writing, digital content creation, documentary, and film production. He has spent the last four years on the staff of several award-winning publications such as The Famuan, Gadsden County News Corp, and Cumulus Media before joining the WFSU news team.