DeSantis and Florida win again, Citadel dumps Illinois for Florida
In June, on the weekend 47 Chicago residents were shot, Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker traveled to New Hampshire to be the keynote speaker at New Hampshire’s Democratic Party state convention
Pritzer traveled to New Hampshire to lobby for Chicago to host the 2024 Democratic Party state convention. Simultaneously, there was buzz that Pritzer may make a Presidential run in 2028, or perhaps sooner.
After the mass shooting at the Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Pritzer took to stage, claiming he was “furious”, blamed the National Rifle Association, and pushed for federal weapon bans, despite not doing so in Illinois with a Democrat state legislature.
A few days after Pritzer’s speech in New Hampshire, Ken Griffin, the wealthiest man in Chicago, announced that he and his Citadel firm would be leaving for Miami, Florida.
Pritzer has seemed to ignore the high levels of crime in Chicago, and his own residents have continued to notice. Radio host Kimberly Egonmwan of 1690 AM, according to RealClear Florida, a radio station that “chronicles the rich history of the Black experience,” asked “Why is it not enough when it happens to us?”
It’s true, tho. https://t.co/ZebvIsssFE pic.twitter.com/uFXASM2c0N
— Karol Markowicz (@karol) July 19, 2022
CNN @jaketapper Confronts Illinois @GovPritzker on Why He Ignores Chicago Shootings! pic.twitter.com/8LkCQD014H
— Adam Milstein (@AdamMilstein) July 10, 2022
"Since Independence Day, there have been three mass shootings on three separate days — July 6, 7 and 10th — in Chicago." https://t.co/6F3oaPYmhu
— Karol Markowicz (@karol) July 14, 2022
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The pandemic proved to be beneficial for red states like Florida. After remote learning, mask mandates and lock down policies, firms from areas like San Fransisco and New York have made their way to the Sunshine State. In a recent Wall Street Journal article, an analyst speaks about how red states have won the post-pandemic economy, claiming
“Remote work allowed many workers to move to red states, not because of political preferences, but for financial and lifestyle reasons—cheaper housing, better weather, less traffic, and lower taxes, the analysts said.”
Cute. I’ll say hi to your governor when I see him in my state the next time he locks you down.
— Karol Markowicz (@karol) July 19, 2022
It is likely that policy played a key role in these developments. During the pandemic, the state of Florida reopened prior to the same blue states that drove away business. In March, Fox News reported, “registered Republican voters now outnumber Democrats by over 100,000 for the first time in the state’s history.”
FLORIDA PARTY REGISTRATION
R: 5,142,002 (36%)
D: 5,007,590 (35.1%)Voter Registration Advantage:
April 1: GOP +111,535
May 1: GOP +133,412 (+21,877)FL Voter Registration Advantage:
Nov 3, 2020: Dem +134,242
May 1, 2022: GOP +133,412✅ Net Difference: GOP +267,654
— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) May 27, 2022
Under Ron DeSantis, the state of Florida has had recent examples of policy that sought to be tough on crime, which may be another factor to explain these developments. Signing HB 3, Governor DeSantis spoke out in favor of Florida’s crime policies to protect the citizens of Florida.
“We’re going to do even more for law enforcement – making sure that we remain a law-and-order state – and [making sure] that people know that we’re going to put people behind bars who violate the law, not like these other states where they release all the criminals on the streets. You see how destructive that has been.”
Mr. Griffin has given more than $600 million in gifts to educational, cultural, medical, and civic organizations in the area. Illinois, however, seemed to push Citadel out of the door, as “It was becoming increasingly difficult to recruit top talent from across the world to Chicago given the rising and senseless violence in the city,” according to RealClear Florida.
Joining Citadel to leave the state of Illinois is Caterpiller Inc. heading to Texas and Boeing Co. heading to Virginia. Long before such, prominent figures such as Ben Shapiro from the DailyWire also moved to Florida. The conservative speaker did so after moving his company out of California to Tennessee. As long as Ron DeSantis is the Governor of Florida, blue states will have to worry about people fleeing for better opportunities in the Sunshine State.
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