As the Democrat party has shifted leftward and opened the door to illegal voters to replace the dwindling popularity of the party’s agenda, numerous officeholders, especially districts that favor President Donald J. Trump, have fled the party to vote alongside the Republicans.
John Yudichak a Pennsylvania state senator left the Democrat Party, perhaps triggering another defection in the US House, a Congressman from New Jersey, who both claimed support for Trump was a factor in their decision.
According to local PA news, WESA Yudichak, “who represents Carbon County and part of Luzerne, including the city of Wilkes-Barre, is now an Independent. But he plans to caucus with Republicans. Yudichak was first elected to the state House as a Democrat in 1999. He’s been a member of the Senate’s Democratic caucus since 2011. ”
Yudichak told reporters that his biggest concern was the opposition from the Democrats he received for his support of the anthracite coal industry to boost his district, and because of his support for natural gas drilling.
“There are great opponents of the natural gas industry within the Democratic caucus that have started to make it a purist issue,” Yudichak said.
Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ) had a recent and high profile defection, Thursday, after he voted to not impeach Trump, claiming he did not leave the Democrats, the Democrats left him.
Rep. Elissa Slotkin, a member of the Democrat party who is also in a pro-Trump district, remained with the “party line” despite the vocal outrage by her voters over the impeachment of Trump, was faced by angry mobs this month at a town hall meeting, where she talked about why she was voting against the wishes of her constituents:
The focus on the 31 House Reps who are considered to be in vulnerable seats for 2020 because of the amount of Trump supporters in their districts was an intense focus during the impeachment trials.
The Hill reported:
“All but a few of the 31 House Democrats representing crossover districts where President Trump is popular voted to impeach him on Wednesday after trying to avoid taking such a tough vote for most of this year.
Only Reps. Jeff Van Drew (N.J.) — who is expected to switch to the GOP in the coming days — and Collin Peterson (Minn.) voted against both articles of impeachment accusing Trump of abuse of power and obstructing Congress.
Freshman Rep. Jared Golden (Maine) was the only Democrat to split his votes in favor of one article but not the other. He voted to impeach Trump for abuse of power, but not obstruction of Congress.”
Time will tell if those public servants chose well.