A Republican running for governor of Nevada says he left the Democratic Party behind when it no longer represented America’s core values.
North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee became a Republican last year, he said during an appearance on “Fox & Friends,” and says he is not alone in leaving the Democratic Party, according to Fox News.
“In fact, Democrats are now leaving that party in droves because of the socialistic agenda that has taken place in the Democratic Party,” he said. “They’re totally anti-American.”
He said the Democratic Party had “nowhere for people who thought and felt like I did about the virtues and values and morals of being a good American. It was time to leave. They have destroyed the Democratic Party now.”
Lee said his state’s Democrats are pushing “the wickedness of socialism.”
Democrats now stand for “everything that has to do with taking away the freedoms and the values and the opportunities that America offers our people, especially our young people.”
He said that due to the socialism pushed by Democrats. younger Americans “are going to be destroyed … and not be able to do anything.”
John Lee: The Democratic Party now embraces socialism and is anti-American | https://t.co/g0OCxYWYAp
— Donna Edmonds Lilly (@girllilly) January 19, 2022
Lee’s campaign website notes that the Democratic Party is not what it used to be.
“Like every Nevadan, I grew up in awe of the American experiment. As children, we looked up to the flag and were proud of what it symbolized and what it stood for – freedom, opportunity, and promise. Back then, we knew both parties – despite their political differences – shared the same values. Today that is no longer the case,” Lee said on his website.
“Today’s Democratic Party has embraced a socialist, extremist agenda that hurts working class families, restricts freedom, and extinguishes opportunity for millions of Americans – particularly working class minorities who deserve the chance to give their families a better life,” he wrote.
“I refused to compromise my pro-life, pro-2nd amendment values, even though it meant losing my state senate seat,” he wrote.
Don’t let the left control the narrative – we know how many responsible gun owners exist in America. That’s why I will always speak out and be a strong supporter of the Second Amendment. pic.twitter.com/3Ga0MVuJVV
— John Lee (@MayorJohnLee) January 15, 2022
“Though I’ve been a registered Democrat on paper my entire life, I made the switch to the Republican Party – because on some things, there’s simply no compromise,” he wrote.
According to Gallup, support for the Democratic Party nose-dived last year.
Gallup reported recently that in the first quarter of 2021, 49 percent of those who expressed a party preference either supported the Democratic Party or leaned that way, against 40 percent who backed the Republican Party or leaned that way.
But in the final quarter of 2021, Gallup’s survey found that Republicans were on top by a margin of 47 percent to 42 percent, a change Gallup called “a dramatic shift.” The survey pegged its margin of error at plus or minus one percentage point.
According to December 2021 data on the website of the Nevada secretary of state’s office, Nevada has 627,466 active voters enrolled in the Democratic Party. The figures show 552,428 enrolled Republicans and 511,729 voters without any party affiliation.
The site noted that in January 2021, there were 654,749 Democrats among active voters, meaning that in the course of 2021, Democratic enrollment dropped about 4 percent.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
