Why I'm moving to Florida

Can one blue dot make a difference?

“If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito,” Mahatma Gandhi

I spent the past few weeks telling friends and family about our decision to leave Northern California, our home for over five years, for Florida and their reactions have all followed the same trajectory: First a look of confusion, then shock, and then concern—as if I’ve just told them I’m struggling with a terminal illness.

So why am I moving across the country to live in a red state? It all started back in 2020, when my husband, John, and I moved from Colorado to California to be closer to his corporate office. John had been commuting for over a year and, once my youngest left for college, I didn’t want us to be living apart. However, the day after we moved to California, the pandemic shut down the world and, in turn, my husband’s office.

For the next five years, John worked from the basement while I worked from the dining room. We hadn’t needed to move to California after all. And then during the pandemic, John’s work team shifted from California to Florida. By the end of 2024, he was commuting cross-country again.

But moving to Florida certainly wasn’t an easy decision. I’d worked as an activist with Florida Moms Demand Action volunteers and watched as the gun laws deteriorated over the last decade, including the passage of permitless carry. I knew the education system was in trouble, healthcare was imploding, and LGBTQ+ rights were being dismantled.

Thanks to gerrymandering, the state has become even more Republican over the years. Republicans now hold 87 of the 120 seats in the state House of Representatives (including two former Democrats who switched parties after the election), 28 of 40 seats in the state Senate, and the governor’s mansion. That means Republicans can pass just about any right-wing priority they want.

Not exactly paradise for a Democratic activist.

But the more we discussed it, the more it made sense—not just to prevent my husband from constantly flying across country for work, but because I actually began getting excited about being a progressive organizer in a red state. I didn’t have to worry about raising kids in Florida because my adult children are living in other parts of the country. As an empty nester, I could use the skills I’d learned and the contacts I’d made through my years leading Moms Demand Action for good.

Also, living in a red state isn’t new for me. Florida will be the tenth state I’ve lived in, including Texas, Missouri, Kansas, Georgia, and Indiana. I understand the stakes of bad governance, and the importance of boots on the ground work to make a difference. I’ve learned firsthand that politics is cyclical; someday Florida will be purple, if not blue, again. As a gun safety activist for over a decade, I watched states like Virginia, Colorado, Minnesota and even Massachusetts kick out their Republican majorities and make real progress in passing progressive laws.

I spoke about the importance of Democrats investing in red states recently on Substack with

Jess Piper

, Executive Director for Blue Missouri, and host of a weekly podcast called “Dirt Road Democrat.” Jess told me: “Mathematically, Democrats can't win without red states. We have to pour resources into those areas, and someone like you moving your family into that state makes it easier for that transition to happen.”

In our polarized nation, there seems to be a sentiment that people who live in red states somehow “deserve what they voted for” or that the people who live in red states are complicit or immoral when, in fact, gerrymandering and voter suppression are what have turned these states red. As we’ve seen in states like Texas and Georgia, it’s up to people on the ground in those states to help turnout the vote and then elect higher quality lawmakers—but that’s difficult to do with limited resources.

After a lot of discussion, John and I decided to make the leap. In just a couple of weeks, we sold our home, bought a new home in Florida, and moved across country. We’d only spent about 48 hours in the state before we moved, and I wasn’t sure what to expect (besides heat and humidity). I quickly learned that Floridians have the same negative view of Californians as Californians have of Floridians. In fact, the first person we met when we arrived was a cashier at CVS who saw our licenses and said, “Bet you’re glad to get away from those crazy people.” A person at the DMV asked how we could ever live in such a liberal wasteland. And did I mention that our new neighbors have a sign in their backyard that says, “Gulf of America”?

It saddens me that so many Americans view one another as the enemy, a symptom of polarization that benefits extremists and helps elect autocrats. I’m going into this experiment with an open mind and heart, believing that—eventually—most Americans will come to realize that the political discourse of the last decade harms all of us and leads to policies that kill us.

And I realize John and I—now registered Florida Democrats—are just two blue dots in a red state. The change I want to happen may not occur while I’m living in Florida, or even in my lifetime. But what matters to me is the opportunity to help create a foundation, of organizers and political candidates alike, who are ready to force change as soon as there’s an opening.

When I posted about my pending move online, people’s reactions were (mostly) supportive, saying, “My first thought was, ‘Ew, never,’ but YES! Florida NEEDS people like you and WE collectively need people like you there!” Another wrote, “This is exactly why I’ll never leave the south. You can’t change anything if all you do is preach to the choir.” And, “Thanks for doing that! People in red states need to stay and fight!”

So, that’s what I’m going to spend my time in Florida doing—fighting. For Democrats and democracy, alongside so many other activists and advocates who’ve been doing the unglamorous, heavy lifting of organizing in a red state for years. I’ll keep you all updated on the trials and travails, and I’ll let you know how you can help along the way.

Are you a blue dot in a red state? Let me know if you have any advice!

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