Lifelong Republican Linda Fogg paused sometimes while explaining how she became a Hillary Clinton supporter.

A proud Texan and former docent at the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum in Dallas, Fogg has never voted for a Democrat for president. But there she was last week on the porch of a Panera Bread restaurant in one of Florida’s reddest communities sporting a “Republicans for Hillary” T-shirt - and inviting passers-by to join her club.

Fogg said about her transition away from Trump, “I agonized literally for months. serious character flaws." She considered supporting Libertarian Gary Johnson before finally settling on Clinton.

She said, “I thought I would be voting for Johnson until I realized in a swing state, that vote would be wasted. What I really needed to do to oppose Trump was to vote for Hillary Clinton.”

Fogg and her small but growing band of disaffected Republicans is a potential sign of real trouble for the GOP nominee in the Sunshine State, where polls showed Clinton, with a narrow lead. Political handicappers said that Trump must win Florida to claim victory on Nov. 8.

Trump has been faring poorly among blacks, a group that wasn't going to support him anyway. He’s also struggling with Hispanics compared to previous GOP nominees, given his abrasive comments about immigrants and Mexicans. And his relatively tepid showing among female voters is expected to worsen following release of a 2005 Access Hollywood tape in which Trump talks about groping women.

The real estate mogul hopes to compensate with support from white men and older voters. There are plenty of both at The Villages, a fast-growing, affluent collection of golf courses and manicured communities located about an hour northwest of Orlando.

By Prakriti Neogi