Fed up with a Democratic Party she says has turned its back on rural Kentuckians, longtime state legislator Robin Webb has officially switched her party affiliation to Republican, marking a decisive break from a political institution she believes no longer stands for the values she and her constituents hold dear.

“While it’s cliché, it’s true: I didn’t leave the party — the party left me,” Webb told the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Once a committed Democrat, Webb—who represents eastern Kentucky's 18th District—has long voiced concern over the party’s shift away from the priorities of rural America. Her frustrations date back years. In 2022, she bluntly observed that the Democratic establishment had grown indifferent to the people of her region.

“I rarely get the feeling that they’re trying to engage people like me,” she said at the time. “That’s demographics, and I get it. We disagree on a lot of issues. They bypass me, and that suits me just fine.”

Now, with the country under the leadership of President Donald Trump and conservative values increasingly resonating in rural America, Webb says the Democratic Party no longer reflects her principles—or those of the people she was elected to serve.

“The Kentucky Democratic Party has increasingly alienated lifelong rural Democrats like myself by failing to support the issues that matter most to rural Kentuckians,” she explained in a statement, as reported by the Kentucky Lantern.

Webb pointed to the party’s leftward drift and its embrace of progressive policies that she says undermine economic and workforce development in her district. “It has become untenable and counterproductive to the best interests of my constituents for me to remain a Democrat,” she said.

According to the Courier-Journal, Webb emphasized that her guiding values have remained steady even as the party she once called home has veered in an entirely different direction.

“I will continue to be a fearless advocate for rural Kentucky and for the residents of eastern Kentucky who have been so good to me and my family,” she stated. “I look forward to continuing to focus on sound policy with rural Kentucky’s best interests in mind.”

Her decision has been warmly welcomed by Republican leadership. Kentucky GOP Chairman Robert Benvenuti praised Webb as a lawmaker who has consistently prioritized common sense and constituent needs over party loyalty.

“She has recognized that the policies and objectives of today’s Democratic Party are simply not what they once were, and do not align with the vast majority of Kentuckians,” Benvenuti said.

Senate President Robert Stivers added, “We value Robin’s voice and experience and are excited to have her as part of the Senate supermajority.”

National GOP leaders see Webb’s move as part of a broader realignment. KC Crosbie, Co-Chair of the Republican National Convention, said her switch “continues a growing trend of rural Democrats who feel left behind and disillusioned by a party that no longer values them or prioritizes the issues most important to their families.”

Predictably, Kentucky Democratic Party Chair Colmon Elridge lashed out in response, painting the Republican agenda in stark—and partisan—terms.

“Sen. Webb has chosen to join a political party that is currently working around the clock to take health care away from over a million Kentuckians, wipe out our rural hospitals, take food off the table of Kentucky families and take resources away from our public schools,” Elridge claimed. “If those are her priorities, then we agree: She isn’t a Democrat.”

Webb has served in the state Senate since 2009 after several years in the Kentucky House of Representatives. Her defection leaves just six Democrats in the 38-member upper chamber—a clear sign of how deeply the political landscape in the Bluegrass State has shifted.