After the January 6 riots in the United States Capitol, several states saw a change in voter registration, with many deciding to leave the Republican Party.
An analysis of the January voting records conducted by the New York Times found almost 140,000 Republicans deciding to leave the party in 25 states. A recent NBC News report found more than 12,000 Republican voters in Pennsylvania leaving the party after Jan. 6, while North Carolina and Arizona saw nearly 8,000 and more than 9,000, respectively.
Kimrey Rhinehardt was one of many voters in North Carolina who decided to leave the Republican Party after the Capitol riot, describing it as “the last straw that broke the camel’s back”.
“I was shaken by what I witnessed, what I heard and a few days later [January 6] I decided that I could no longer align myself with the people who are changing the Republican Party to something other than what I knew, “said Rhinehardt Newsweek.
When talking to Newsweek Rhinehardt explained that she first sided with the Republican Party when she was about 11 years old and went on to work as a Capitol Hill employee for 28 years. Rhinehardt said Newsweek that she officially filed the paperwork to change her party affiliation in the days after the Capitol riots, saying it “took maybe two minutes.”
“And I felt good about it,” she said. “I felt that if I could do nothing more, I will not allow the Republican Party to expect more loyalty from me. And for me to go back to the Republican Party, I will have to see a lot of changes, I’ll have to feel that others are included, that I am included, that my voice is important, because now I don’t really feel that my voice matters. “
Rhinehardt said Newsweek that, while still remaining committed to the Republican Party’s traditional policies and values, she noted that “it just isn’t the party I know anymore”.
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“I wanted conservative judges, I wanted a strong pro-Israel president,” said Rhinehardt, who voted for Trump in 2016 and wrote for a candidate in 2020. “There were things I was willing to ignore to get my priorities done, but never could [have] he always foresaw the damage and destruction that came along with the good things the president did. I thought I could hold my nose and wait, but I feel like [Trump] lit a match to burn the party on its way out. “
Although the data signaled a shift in the Republican Party, Thomas Gift, director of the US Policy Center at University College London, said Newsweek that many of those who left the party are likely to have similar views to Rhinehardt, in the sense that they still align with traditional party policies, but feel disconnected from Trump.
“[The data] certainly reflects this to some extent, as a departure from Donald Trump and what he stands for, “said Gift Newsweek. “My guess is that the majority of those voters who are moving away from the Republican Party are those who traditionally considered themselves traditional Republicans; country club Republicans, Chamber of Commerce Republicans and so on, who feel like the party, as it manifests itself currently under Donald Trump no longer represents his values. “
Gift added that “it is obviously not a good sign for the Republican Party, but at the same time, just because voters are formally de-identifying with the Republican Party, it does not mean that they are changing their views or their values or even necessarily changing the way how they will vote. “
While Rhinehardt described the Capitol disturbances as the last straw in his support for the Republican Party, Barry Burden, director of the University of Wisconsin Election Research Center, explained to the Newsweek that he sees change as a “two-step process”.
“Some withdrew from the party shortly after election day and then a more immediate reaction after the January 6 uprising,” said Burden.
Gift said Newsweek that he believes the Republican Party’s withdrawal “has been fermenting for some time”.
“But you kind of needed the trigger to cross the line and maybe the Capitol uprising was that trigger,” he said.
Despite the change in Republican Party voters, both Burden and Gift said they did not believe the change would lead to the emergence of a third party.
According to Burden, for the Republican Party to reverse this change in voters, it needs to return to the unifying elements with which all Republican and conservative voters agree, such as “less regulations, less taxes, a smaller federal government and more emphasis on Free Freedom. business and individual. “
“So I think that returning to these fundamental principles is a way to keep the coalition in place,” said Burden.