Democratic Party (Florida)

The Florida Democratic Party (FDP) is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Florida, headquartered in Tallahassee. Former mayor of Miami Manny Diaz Sr. is the current chair.

Andrew Jackson, the first territorial governor of Florida in 1821, co-founded the Democratic Party. After Florida achieved statehood, the party dominated state politics until the 1950s, after which Florida became a swing state.

Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, Florida Democrats have prioritized advocating Medicaid expansion in the state, a policy that would provide a federally subsidized health insurance plan to approximately one million Floridians.

History

The Florida Democratic Party has historically dominated Florida's state and local politics. Andrew Jackson, the first territorial governor of Florida in 1821, co-founded the Democratic Party. As Florida moved from territory to statehood status, FDP emerged from the locofocos. John Milton led the party, and became governor of the state, during the Civil War era.

There were no Republican governors from 1877 until 1967, when Claude R. Kirk, a Republican from Jacksonville, was sworn in as governor of Florida.

Florida politics was largely dominated by the Democrats until Richard Nixon's Southern strategy, which took advantage of objections to the advances of the Civil Rights Movement which resulted in a regional political realignment for the South. After Nixon's victory in 1968, the state voted Democratic in only four presidential elections: 1976 ( Jimmy Carter), 1996 ( Bill Clinton), 2008 ( Barack Obama), and 2012 ( Barack Obama). The presidential election in 2000 was decided by a margin of 537 votes out of approximately six million cast in the state, earning George W. Bush the presidency over Al Gore.

The Florida Senate was dominated by Democrats until 1992, when a majority of Republicans was elected. The Florida House of Representatives turned Republican after the November 1996 election. The Florida Legislature became the first legislature in any of the states of the former Confederacy to come under complete Republican control when the Republicans gained control of the House and Senate in the 1996 election.

Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, Florida Democrats have prioritized advocating Medicaid expansion in the state, a policy that would provide a federally subsidized healthcare plan to approximately one million Floridians.

Governance

The current chairman of the FDP is former Mayor of Miami Manny Diaz Sr., who succeeded Terrie Rizzo on January 9, 2021.

List of chairs

*Scott Maddox (2003–2005): Maddox, the former mayor of Tallahassee, Florida, served as FDP chairman from 2003 to 2006, leaving the post to run for governor. The Associated Press noted that while Democrats suffered electoral defeats during his tenure, party activists recognized he had built up the party's infrastructure and volunteer base."
*Karen Thurman (2005–2010): Thurman, a former five-term member of Congress from Florida's 5th District, served from 2005 to 2010. She was elected chairman of the FDP in 2005, succeeding Scott Maddox, who resigned in order to seek the Democratic nomination for governor. Thurman resigned on November 12, 2010, following the midterm elections.
* Rod Smith (2010–2013): In November 2010, Smith was elected chairman of the Florida Democratic Party (FDP), succeeding Karen Thurman who resigned on November 12, 2010, following the midterm elections. Smith, a former Alachua County state prosecutor and state senator from the 14th district, became chair following his unsuccessful bid for lieutenant governor in 2010. Smith's term expired in January 2013, when he was succeeded by Allison Tant.
*Allison Tant (2014–2016): In December 2013, former lobbyist, philanthropist, and Democratic fundraiser Allison Tant announced she would seek the chairmanship of the FDP. She was elected in January 2014, after a closely contested race against Hillsborough state committeeman Alan Clendenin. After large national losses in 2014, Debbie Wasserman Schultz commissioned the Victory Task Force to "take a deep dive" to figure out what went wrong in 2014. Similarly, Chair Tant created the state-level LEAD Task Force, to learn the lessons of the statewide Democratic defeat.
*Stephen Bittel (2016–2017): Bittel, who founded Terranova in 1980, is still an active Democrat in the state. He was chosen primarily for his fundraising ability after the 2016 election, but many critics noted his ability to curry influence with his immense wealth. In November 2017, he was accused of inappropriate office behavior, and subsequently left his role.
*Terrie Rizzo (2017–2021): In December 2017, Rizzo was elected to replace Stephen Bittel, defeating Stacey Patel in an 830–291 vote. During Rizzo's term as chair and as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the party focused on developing web products and established a department for social media marketing.
* Manny Diaz (2021–present), In January 2021, Diaz was elected with 54% from party leaders to replace Terrie Rizzo. Diaz was elected partly to bring outreach from the Cuban-American community, which was a voting bloc that helped Donald Trump win the state in the 2020 presidential election.

House leaders

* Mark S. Pafford (2014–2016)
* Janet Cruz (2016–2018)
* Kionne McGhee (2018–2020)
* Bobby DuBose (2020–2022)
* Evan Jenne (2022–present)

Organization

The State Executive Committee of the Florida Democratic Party is organized into six standing committees. Standing committees include: the Rules Committee, the Judicial Council, the Diversity and Inclusion Committee, the Committee on Clubs, Organizations, and Caucuses, the Legislative Liaison Committee, and the Campaign Committee.

Platform

The Florida Democratic Party has adopted a platform that covers a wide range of topics and issues under the following headings:
*Access to Healthcare
*An Economy That Works for Everyone
*Quality Education
*Protecting our Environment
*Immigration Reform
*Preventing Gun Violence
*Civil Rights
*Government Accountability
*Protecting Voting Rights
*Women and Families

Current elected officials

The following is a list of Democratic statewide, federal, and legislative officeholders as of October 23, 2018:

Members of Congress

U.S. Senate

*None

Both of Florida's U.S. Senate seats have been held by Republicans since 2019. Bill Nelson was the last Democrat to represent Florida in the U.S. Senate. First elected in 2000, Nelson lost his bid for a fourth term in 2018 to Republican governor Rick Scott.

U.S. House of Representatives

Out of the 27 seats Florida is apportioned in the U.S. House of Representatives, 11 are held by Democrats:

State

Statewide officials

Democrats control one of the four elected statewide offices:
*Commissioner of Agriculture: Nikki Fried

State legislative leaders

* Senate Minority Leader: Lauren Book
* House Minority Leader: Evan Jenne

State Senate

Democrats hold a 16-seat minority in the 40-member Florida Senate:
*SD-03: Loranne Ausley
*SD-06: Audrey Gibson
*SD-11: Randolph Bracy
*SD-13: Linda Stewart
*SD-15: Victor Torres
*SD-18: Janet Cruz
*SD-19: Darryl Rouson
*SD-29: Tina Polsky
*SD-30: Bobby Powell
*SD-31: Lori Berman
*SD-32: Lauren Book (''Minority Leader'')
*SD-33: Rosalind Osgood
*SD-34: Gary Farmer
*SD-35: Shevrin Jones
*SD-38: Jason Pizzo
*SD-40: Annette Taddeo

State House

Democrats hold a 47-seat minority in the 120-seat Florida House of Representatives:
*HD-08: Ramon Alexander
*HD-09: Allison Tant
*HD-13: Tracie Davis
*HD-14: Angie Nixon
*HD-20: Yvonne Hayes Hinson
*HD-30: Joy Goff-Marcil
*HD-43: Kristen Arrington
*HD-44: Geraldine Thompson
*HD-45: Kamia Brown
*HD-46: Travaris McCurdy
*HD-47: Anna Eskamani
*HD-48: Daisy Morales
*HD-49: Carlos Guillermo Smith
*HD-59: Andrew Learned
*HD-61: Dianne Hart
*HD-62: Susan Valdes
*HD-63: Fentrice Driskell
*HD-68: Ben Diamond
*HD-70: Michele Rayner
*HD-81: Kelly Skidmore
*HD-86: Matt Willhite
*HD-87: David Silvers
*HD-88: Jervonte Edmonds
*HD-90: Joseph Casello
*HD-91: Emily Slosberg
*HD-92: Patricia Hawkins-Williams
*HD-95: Anika Omphroy
*HD-96: Christine Hunschofsky
*HD-97: Dan Daley
*HD-98: Michael Gottlieb
*HD-99: Evan Jenne (''Minority Leader'')
*HD-100: Joe Geller
*HD-101: Marie Woodson
*HD-102: Felicia Robinson
*HD-104: Robin Bartleman
*HD-107: Christopher Benjamin
*HD-108: Dotie Joseph
*HD-109: James Bush III
*HD-112: Nicholas Duran
*HD-113: Michael Grieco
*HD-117: Kevin Chambliss

Mayoral offices

Some of the state's major cities have Democratic mayors. As of 2019, Democrats control the mayor's offices in five of Florida's ten largest cities:
*Tampa (3): Jane Castor
* Orlando (4): Buddy Dyer
* St. Petersburg (5): Ken Welch
* Tallahassee (7): John Dailey
* Fort Lauderdale (9): Dean Trantalis

Former Florida governors and U.S. senators

Governors

United States senators

See also

*Democratic Black Caucus of Florida
* Democratic Party (United States) organizations
*Political party strength in Florida
*Political party strength in the United States

References

External links

Florida Democratic PartyFlorida College DemocratsDemocratic Women's Club of FloridaDemocratic Caribbean Caucus of FloridaDemocratic Black Caucus of Florida

{{Authority control

Democratic Party (United States) by state
Politics of Florida
Political parties in Florida
1834 establishments in Florida Territory
Political parties established in 1834