Utah senator announces he’s leaving the Republican party, joining Utah Forward Party: ‘I don’t have to be part of the crazy-making anymore,’ Sen. Dan Thatcher of West Valley says

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1. The beginning..**.(To clarify, this change will only affect the state of Utah since he is only a state senator and not a U.S. senator.)**

   >A Republican Utah senator says he’s had enough of a party that he believes is becoming disconnected from Utahns and straying from true conservative and freedom-focused principles.

   >Standing in the Utah Capitol rotunda, Sen. Dan Thatcher, of West Valley City, told a group of reporters Friday — the final day of the Legislature’s 2025 session — that he would be unaffiliating from the Republican Party.

   >Instead, he said he’ll be joining the Utah Forward Party — a centrist party that has the slogan “Not left. Not right. Forward.”

   >Standing alongside a handful of Forward Party leaders, Thatcher said he and his wife had been discussing the change for “a really, really long time.” But he said the Utah Legislature’s 2025 session (which has included legislation focused on facilitating the Trump administration’s deportation goals, restricting voting by mail, banning LGBTQ+ flags from schools and public property, and more) was the final straw — or bale of hay, as he put it — that broke the camel’s back.

   >“Yes, this legislative session did accelerate the program, but I think this was always the way,” Thatcher said. “Because I can’t be a part of this anymore.”

   >Thatcher then used a tablet to switch his party affiliation to the Utah Forward Party online, exclaiming “boop” when he submitted the change.

   >“Guess what, I don’t have to be part of the crazy-making anymore.”

2. Goodbye

3. *aldo raine has entered the chat*

4. Hopefully more follow his lead… not holding my breath

5. One of them just grew a spine !

6. Up for re-election, pretend you’re on the voter side then burn them again?

7. Uh oh….this is delicious.

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