Opinion: Alabama Party switcher

   
  From an Alabama GOP news release about a county circuit clerk switching from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party. The reason?

"The Democrat (sic) Party of today is not the same party I joined years ago. Their platform does not line up with my views and beliefs," Mrs. Gomillion said. "2020 is the perfect year to see the light. I am out of the darkness."

                  Butler County Circuit Clerk Mattie Gomillion

     She ran for and won the office as a Democrat in 2012...all of 8 years ago. Same year Barack Obama was re-elected to a second term, though Butler County residents voted almost 54% for Republican Mitt Romney in that election. 

     Has the Democratic Party really changed that much in such a short time?

    HERE is the Democratic Party Platform for that year---2012. I couldn't find any issue of significance that is different from the current 2020 platform. So did the Democratic Party "line up with (her) views and beliefs" in 2012? What made her "see the light" and come out of "the darkness". 

     The real question here is this: How will the county circuit clerk's party affiliation impact the way she serves the public? Will she favor citizens based on their party? If not, then what's the difference?

     Her current salary of $76,604 is almost twice that of the average female salary in Butler County ($40,615).