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FOX News anchor Sean Hannity announced his plan to move from New York to "my new home in the free state of Florida" during his radio program Wednesday (January 3) morning.
“If anybody is listening to this program for any length of time, been threatening now to do this for quite a while, but we are now beginning our first broadcast of my new home, and that is in the free state of Florida," Hannity said. "I am out. I am done. I’m finished. New York, New York, goodbye. Florida, Florida, if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere. But it’s great to be here."
Hannity, 62, a New York City native, is the latest of many conservatives who have opted for what they refer to as a "blue state exodus," moving from New York or California to typically red states such as Florida or Texas in recent years. Others who have previously made similar moves cited lower cost of living and intention to live in safer areas for their relocations.
Hannity also praised several Republican elected state officials as reasons for his move to Florida.
“And finally, for the first time that I can think of in my adult life, I actually have representatives in the state that I’m living in that share my values. I have a governor by the name of Ron DeSantis and Senator Marco Rubio and Senator Rick Scott. So I’m feeling a lot better about it,” Hannity said.
“And I’m not going to go through the whys, the how comes, because it’s obvious this migration out of the blue states with high taxes, burdensome regulation, high crime, horrible school districts is real. And if anything, I’m probably late and behind the curve and many others have made the move beforehand," he added.
Florida had one of the largest population increases among all U.S. states in July with an estimated 365,000 people -- equivalent to 1.6% of its population -- permanently relocating, according to the U.S. Census Bureau via the New York Post. New York, on the other hand, was reported to have about 102,000 moving away, which was the highest reported gross population decrease of all U.S. states.