One in Ten Americans Either Moved or Are Moving to an Area That Better Aligns with Their Beliefs

Incumbent Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis arrives to speak to supporters at an electi
AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell

One in ten Americans either have moved or are planning to move to another part of the country that better aligns with their beliefs, a recent Convention of States Action/Trafalgar Group survey found.

The survey asked respondents, “Have you moved in the last 3 years, or plan to move in the next year, to a region that aligns more closely with your political and/or personal beliefs?”

While 89.8 percent said they have no plans to move, roughly ten percent said they either have already or plan to do so. 

Specifically, 7.1 percent said they are “planning on moving in the next year to a region that aligns more closely with my beliefs,” and 3.1 percent said they already have done so in the last three years. 

The trend is higher with Republicans, 10.4 percent of whom said they plan to move, while 4.4 percent claim to already have done so. Another 9.6 percent of independents say they plan to move as well, while 4.1 percent said they already have. The percentages among Democrats are significantly smaller, as just 2.1 percent said they plan to move to a region that better aligns with their beliefs, and 1.1 percent said they already have. 

The survey was taken November 16-20, 2022, among 1,084 likely general election voters and has a +/- 2.9 percent margin of error. 

The trend was, perhaps, best seen in Florida, as individuals flocked to the Sunshine State as many areas of the country remained under coronavirus lockdowns, restrictions, and coercive mandates. 

In 2021, for example, the Sunshine State experienced the highest level of domestic visitation in the state’s history — 117.7 million domestic visitors. Coinciding with that was the fact that Florida Republicans overtook Democrats in terms of registered voters in the state for the first time at the end of 2021, and that lead only continued to grow, resulting in Republicans having 300,000 more registered Republican voters than Democrats at the time of the midterm election mere weeks ago. 

“And even though we’ve never had an election in Florida history [where] we’ve had more Republicans than Democrats, this November, we will now have over 300,000 more Republicans than Democrats,” DeSantis announced prior to Election Day, which saw him demolishing Democrat Rep. Charlie Crist (D-FL) by roughly 1.5 million votes. 

That stands in stark contrast to his narrow win against Democrat Andrew Gillum in 2018, where he won by less than half of a percentage point — a difference of 32,463 votes. That alone could serve as a testament to the trend of Americans, quite literally, voting with their feet over the last few years. 

“Now, thanks to the overwhelming support of the people of Florida … we have rewritten the political map,” DeSantis said in his victory speech. 

“The results of that behavior has been just as stark as our landslide victory today; states and cities governed by leftist politicians have seen crime skyrocket. They’ve seen their taxpayers abused. They’ve seen medical authoritarianism imposed, and they’ve seen American principles discarded,” he added. “The woke agenda has caused millions of Americans to leave these jurisdictions for greener pastures.”

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