Florida's seniors, the state's most reliable voters, are shifting away from Trump [View all]

Florida’s seniors, the state’s most reliable voters, are shifting away from Trump
BY MARY ELLEN KLAS HERALD/TIMES TALLAHASSEE BUREAU

Read more here: https://www.miamiherald.com/article246316750.html#storylink=cpy


Stephen Staruch is exactly the kind of voter that gave Donald Trump a 17-point advantage over Hillary Clinton in exit polling among older voters in Florida four years ago.

The lifelong Republican who has retired to the state’s largest retirement community, The Villages, says he voted for Trump four years ago because it was “more of a vote against Clinton.” As a retired UPS executive, he had hope for Trump because his life experience taught him that people “often grow into the job and mature; if you surround them by the right team of people, they’re going to become a good leader, especially if they’re good business people.”

But Staruch’s high hopes were quickly dashed, he said this week. “Right around inauguration time when he started lying about the crowds, I had buyer’s remorse.”

Now, Staruch, 67, is voting for Biden “to get democracy back and the rule of law,” and he’s speaking out about it to anyone who will listen. “I feel that same sense of obligation that I did when I was 17 and joined the military during Vietnam. It’s like, that’s what people do because this is our country.”

Polls now show that because of voters like Staruch, Florida’s seniors who traditionally vote at higher rates than any other age group, have shifted in significant numbers away from President Donald Trump to former Vice President Joe Biden.