Florida Democratic Party

David Rivera's Missing Pal Ana Alliegro Found Hiding in Nicaragua

Exclusive: Miami New Times Finds David Rivera's Missing Pal Ana Alliegro

In the lakeside tourist city of Granada, Nicaragua, visitors strolling along La Calle Libertad come upon a blue Colonial-style building with a small sign reading, "Salon La Libertad." On a recent afternoon, a slim Cuban-American woman with short blonde hair and intense blue eyes chats on her cellpho ... More >>

Manny Diaz's Run for Governor Might Be Over Before It Even Began

It's a particularly strange time for the Democratic Party of Florida, considering that two of the bigger names considering a run for the party's 2014 gubernatorial nomination have never held office as a Democrat before. Now one of them, former Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, may pull out of the race before ... More >>

Florida Bill Would Require Bullet Buyers to Take Anger Management Classes

State Senator Audrey Gibson, a Democrat out of Jacksonville, has caught the ire of gun right groups after introducing a bill that would require anyone who wishes to buy ammunition in Florida to complete an anger management class. The bill would also require a three day waiting period for the sale of ... More >>

Charlie Crist and Rick Scott Tied in Latest Gubernatorial Race Poll

It might have seemed that Rick Scott's defeat in the 2014 gubernatorial race was pretty much a done deal a year before the campaigns even really began, but the latest poll shows Scott might not be such a pushover. The poll of 600 registered voters conducted earlier this month shows Sc ... More >>

Floridians Prefer Rubio Over Bush for Prez in 2016, But Like Hillary Clinton Even More

Another day, another poll that shows that while Marco Rubio is the clear early frontrunner for the Republican nomination in 2016, he can't quite match up to Hillary Clinton in a general election yet.The latest poll from Public Policy Polling was only of Florida voters, and shows that Rubio would bea ... More >>

Big Time Democrats (Including Bob Graham) Warming Up To Idea of Charlie Crist Running for Governor as Dem

Are Democrats warming up to the idea of Charlie Crist becoming their 2014 nominee for governor? Over the weekend, two high profile Florida Democrats took the airwaves and seemed to have nothing but nice things to say about Crist, including Bob Graham, who even after years out of office remains one o ... More >>

In Early Voting Debacle in Doral, Carlos Gimenez Fails To Lead

As the 2012 presidential election in Miami-Dade County spirals into calamity, alcalde fuerte Carlos Gimenez is doing nothing to stop another embarrassing, national indictment of our Banana Republic's voting system. Despite long lines of voters who waited two-to-six hours to cast their ballots during ... More >>

Report: GOP Putting Pressure on David Rivera to Resign

Things just keep getting worse for Rep. David Rivera. According to The New York Times, powers that be in his own party are pressuring the congressman to resign just days before early voting begins. Marco Rubio apparently has even been asked to intervene and talk some sense to his friend and former T ... More >>

Sorry Charlie: Alex Sink Actually Democrat's Favorite In 2014 Gov Race, According to Poll

Earlier this week, we brought to your attention to an odd poll that claimed 61 percent of Democratic voters wanted former Republican Charlie Crist to be the Dem's gubernatorial candidate in 2014. The numbers seemed way off, and now a new poll is out showing that actually Alex Sink, who ran for gover ... More >>

Dear Dems, Please Do Not Run Charlie Crist for Governor

Dear Democratic Party of Florida,Rumors have been swirling that Charlie Crist would be joining your party ever since he got his ass handed to him Tea-Party style in the 2010 Senate race. Now there's very specific gossip going around that he'll announce his official membership in your party in a Sund ... More >>

Miami Beach Elects Florida's First Openly Gay State Legislator, David Richardson

Until last night, Florida was the largest state in the union to have never elected an openly gay candidate to its state legislature. Yes, even Texans elected an openly gay representative all the way back in 1991.That changed last night as voters in Florida 113th House district, which encompasses par ... More >>

State Sen. Nan Rich to Run Against Rick Scott in 2014

Florida's next gubernatorial election is more than two years away, but if Gov. Rick Scott's popularity remains below sea level, there's a good chance a Democrat could emerge victorious for the first time since 1994. The question is, of course, which Democrat?State Sen. Nan Rich, the top Democrat in ... More >>

Florida GOP and Dem Chairs Act Like Children in Allen West's Commie Comment Flap

In our latest example of why we hate politics in Florida because way too many people involved act like children, let us now examine the letters sent between the chairs of the Florida Democratic Party and the Republican Party of Florida this morning over GOP Rep. Allen West's comments about how he he ... More >>

Do Florida Democrats Have a Hispanic Outreach Problem?

​Democrats in Florida have a huge registered voter advantage over Republicans, but you couldn't tell that by looking at the leadership in Tallahassee and the Republican super majorities in both house of the state legislature. There's a few reasons for that situation (including the Republican-contr ... More >>

Could Charlie Crist Take on Rick Scott in 2014 As a Democrat?

​Gov. Rick Scott's leadership hasn't given Floridians much to celebrate. He's the most unpopular governor in America, and his poll numbers don't appear to be getting any better. But Democrats see a silver lining in the dark cloud. Scott's deep unpopularity gives them renewed electoral hope. I ... More >>

Rick Scott's Administration Really Hates Sunshine Laws

​"Are there things we don't want you to know? Yes," Brian Burgess, Rick Scott's communication director (or misdirector in many cases) tells the Times/Herald's Tallahassee Bureau. "There are things we don't want to broadcast to our opponents."Florida's Sunshine Laws are supposed to foster an o ... More >>

Rod Smith Will Be the Next Chair of the Florida Democratic Party

​Hey, looks like Rod Smith will finally win an election. The failed candidate for Governor in 2006 and Lt. Governor in 2010 is all be guaranteed to be the next chair of the Florida Democratic Party. Supposedly Smith's record of astounding personal failure in statewide races and wishy-washy moderat ... More >>

Rising Star Andrew Gillum, 31, Enters Race for Florida Democratic Chair

​Florida Democrats desperately need a Marco Rubio of their own, and 31-year-old Andrew Gillum, a commissioner for the City of Tallahassee may be the answer. He's not running for statewide elected office (yet, anyway), but has entered the race to replace Karen Thurman as the chair of the Florida De ... More >>

Florida Democratic Party Chair Karen Thurman Resigns

​Florida Democratic Party Chair Karen Thurman has offered her resignation letter. Even though she had reportedly been telling several folks even before this month's elections that she was preparing to retire, the election results drove home the fact that the state party desperately needed a shake ... More >>

Alex Sink Blames Obama Administration for Her Loss

Is Alex Sink chewing on a bushel of sour grapes following her loss to Rick Scott or is she accurately hitting on some of the political and messaging failures of the Obama White House and the Democratic party in general? In an article on Politico this weekend, Sink lays some of the blame for her loss ... More >>

Rick Scott is Governor Because South Floridians Are Too Lazy to Vote

South Florida Cat Forgot to Vote​What the hell did you have going on Tuesday where you couldn't vote? Yes, I'm talking to you, South Florida. Because a stronger turn out in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach which happen to be the most populace counties in the state and all voted super strongly fo ... More >>

What the Hell is Wrong with the Florida Democratic Party?

​The Florida Democratic Party has nearly 600,000 more registered voters in the state than the Republicans, yet last night they failed miserably in delivering on a single important race. Their Governor candidate lost to a man who ran a company involved in the biggest Medicare fraud case in American ... More >>

Sore Loser Maurice Ferré Endorses Rick Scott To Spite Dems

Maurice Ferré, who 25 years ago was the mayor of the City of Miami, thinks he didn't get a fair shake in his long shot run for Senate in the Democratic primary. Somehow he's claiming this is "an insult to every Hispanic voter in our state." So what does he do to get back at the Democratic party? He ... More >>

DNC Member Wants Bob Graham To Hammer Out Deal Between Crist and Meek

Bob Graham, the deal maker?​Jon Ausman is a representative for Florida on the Democratic National Committee, and boy does he have a good idea on how to prevent Marco Rubio from winning the senate race. He wants former Governor and Senator Bob Graham to sit down with Charlie Crist and Kendrick Meek ... More >>

Meek Ad: Charlie Crist Used to Love George W. Bush, Sarah Palin

​As most other Democratic senate candidates in the nation try to scuttle to the political middle in the face of a climate that's supposedly hostile to liberals, Florida's Kendrick Meek is in the unique position of reminding everyone, proudly, that he's a tried and true Democrat. That's because Ind ... More >>

Alex Sink to Pick Boring Rod Smith as Running Mate

​According to two state papers, Florida gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink is set to announce Rod Smith as her running mate this Thursday at an event in West Palm Beach. Yawn. A former state senator, Smith lost the 2006 Democratic primary for governor to similarly boring Jim Davis. The move seems t ... More >>

President Obama Coming to Fontainebleau Next Month for Fundraiser With Alex Sink

​Democrats love partying at the Fontainebleau. Bill Clinton held a fundraiser at the hotel's club LIV earlier this summer, and President Obama, who's no stranger to the megaresort, will return to town August 18. He'll be on hand to raise funds for the Florida Democratic Party a ... More >>

Bill McCollum Hired George Rekers Despite Strong Warnings From Staff

McCollum (L) paid Rekers (R) $120,000 to testify against gay adoption.​Attorney General Bill McCollum, who is running for Governor as a Republican, has tried to distance himself from anti-gay activist George Rekers, but recently released emails show that McCollum hired Rekers as an expert witness ... More >>

Dems Ask Bill McCollum to Pay Back $120K He Paid to George Rekers

McCollum paid Rekers six figure to testify against gay adoption​The dominoes continue to fall after New Times exposed anti-gay activist and "researcher" Geroge Rekers's ten-day trip to Europe with a twinky, young male escort he met through RentBoy.com. The blow back has reached Attorney General Bi ... More >>

Polls: Rubio Regains Lead, Apparently Any Republican Can Beat Alex Sink

Do you even recognize these candidates? ​Hey, Democratic Party of Florida, you do realize that you're supposed to win elections don't you? You're aware that President Obama won this state in 2008, and that you have a pretty hefty voter registration advantage over Republicans? You know that your ma ... More >>

Miami-Dade Democratic Chairman Booted by State Party

​Just days after sending out a fiery letter calling for the resignation of Florida Democratic Party chair Karen Thurman -- a letter that made liberal use of his word processor's bold and underline features -- Miami-Dade Democratic chairman BJ Chiszar has been given the boot. Chiszar's le ... More >>

News Roundup

LocalFather Lay Minister Cutié gave his first sermon as an Episcopalian, and apparently his old Church is a little pissed he's made such a big deal about the switch. [USAToday]No, but seriously. It's not a good week for the Catholic Church in Miami. They'll be closing 13 churches. [H ... More >>

Tallahassee Discovers Twitter, Goes a Little Overboard

I'm not immediately sure how this is useful, but there's a new website for people in Tallahassee to get excited over. It's called the Florida Gaggle, and its main feature is that it aggregates the Twitter feeds from politicians, politicos, and reporters. How exciting! It also aggregates the same fi ... More >>

Hot New Senate Campaign Gimmick Alert: Petitions!

These dang Florida Democrats can't seem to run for Senate without some sort of campaign gimmick. Lawton Chiles had his walk, Bob Graham had working days, and Dan Gelber is undertaking 100 days of public service. Rep. Kendrick Meek might be leading in fundraising, but he is totally losing in the gimm ... More >>

Florida Democrats Lacking Latino Candidates

Absent from the list of possible candidates for the Democratic nomination for either governor or senator in 2010 are Latinos. It's nothing new. The Democrats have never run a Latino for governor or the Senate, and they've never elected one to the U.S. House of Representatives. In fact, one would be ... More >>

And Now Some Dumb Words from Your State Political Parties

You know what is really, really hot right now? Governor corruption! Especially involving governors who are quite particular about their hair. So the Democratic Party of Florida decided to get in on this hot political meme by issuing a memo from spokesman Eric Jotkoff charging Charlie Crist with his ... More >>

End of the Diaz-Balart Dynasty

The Republican brothers are headed for defeat, and Cuban-American politics will change forever.

Hillary Rained Out Before Mentioning Obama

Dems Fight to be Ruler of the Playground

Classroom Felon

Steve Clark teaches criminal law in Miami. He's an expert.

Gonzo Gore

The ex-vice prez sure can talk. Who knew?

The Camelot Legacy

He may live in Miami Beach for now, but Anthony Kennedy Shriver has his eye on Tallahassee

Count All Votes -- Except Those for Nader

The Reform Party's presidential candidate makes some people crazy

Loaded

The federal ban on assault weapons never worked, as Miami-Dade Police Ofcr. Keenya Hubert painfully learned

Blues for the Fire Department

Add Willie Latimore's name to the Opa-locka Three

Democracy Is Messy

And it doesn't get any messier than a gaggle of Democrats gathering to elect their own leaders

Donkey Demise

Miami-Dade's Democratic Party is a shambles. Blame Joe Geller, candidate and chairman.

Hot Air Waves

The head honcho thinks The Alex and Miriam Show would be totally cool, but internal strife is boiling over at Radio and TV Marti

Scalded: The Afterburn

A state fraud investigator says he was punished because he tangled with U.S. Attorney Kendall Coffey