GOP could lose state of Florida because of Farmers Insurance: ex-Trump official

A flood of insurance companies fleeing Florida could cost the GOP the state in the next election, a former Trump official warned Tuesday.

Michael Caputo, the assistant secretary of public affairs under Trump, was reacting to Farmers Insurance's announcement earlier in the day that it was dropping all home and auto insurance policies in the state and leaving, Newsweek reported.

The decision was driven by business costs that are forced up by hurricane rebuilding and recovery, the company said. It’s the fourth insurance firm to pull out of the Florida market in the past year.

"I keep saying hurricane insurance costs are a vital issue in Florida – a truly fundamental kitchen table concern,” Caputo said in a tweet.

"It changes votes, for real. Florida is a must-win battleground for the GOP nomination – will hurricane insurance decide it?"

Farmers’ decision is expected to affect 100,000 homeowners.

Florida homeowners already pay the highest premiums in the U.S., Newsweek reported.

"This business decision was necessary to effectively manage risk exposure," Farmers said in a statement issued Newsweek in a statement.

Political consultant Jay Townsend agreed with Caputo’s warning.

"As insurance costs rise, and strain the household budgets of working-class people, they soon start looking for the culprit," he told Newsweek.

"Inevitably, they will identify the Governor as one of them. And even if he did nothing wrong, they'll ask why he didn't do something to stop it."

Already the anger was being directed at DeSantis and other state officials.

"Everyone who has Citizens Insurance is at risk of losing everything this Hurricane season. What are you and your boss [Florida Governor] Ron DeSantis doing about it since he's never here anymore and he's running for President?" far-right activist Laura Loomer tweeted at the state’s Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, a Republican.