Frankel

“Where’s Ted Deutch?” Frankel asked the crowd of about 350, calling out the frontrunner in the special race to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Boca Raton.

“I want you to know I’m running,” Frankel said, pausing for dramatic effect, “in the….Palm Beach Marathon in two weeks.”

Actually, Frankel said in an interview a few minutes later, she has decided not to run in the congressional race.

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Now the Wexler proteges could battle each other for their mentor’s congressional seat.

Boca Raton Sen. Deutch and Coral Springs Sen. Ring are among the half dozen or more Democrats who might enter a special election for Wexler’s Palm Beach-Broward congressional seat when Wexler steps down in January to head a Middle East think tank.

Wexler remains close to Deutch and Ring, but a Democratic insider said Wexler is likely to endorse Deutch as his replacement.

Other prominent Democrats eyeing the race include West Palm Beach Mayor Lois Frankel, Broward County Mayor Stacy Ritter, former Broward Mayor Ben Graber and former Boca Raton state Rep. Irving Slosberg.

The winner of the Democratic primary will likely claim the seat in a district where Democrats hold more than a 2-to-1 registration edge over Republicans and no GOP candidate has received more than 34.4 percent since 1996.

Primary and general election dates will be set after Gov. Charlie Crist receives a resignation letter from Wexler.

Graber, who got 6.6 percent against Wexler last year as a no-party candidate, announced today he will run as a Democrat in the special election.

Other potential candidates said they were in soul-searching mode.

“I have to talk to my friends and family and see what’s in my heart,” said Frankel.

“I am talking to community members, I am talking to leaders all across my district and most importantly I am talking to my family,” said Deutch, who expects to make an announcement Thursday.

Ring said he is “absolutely investigating it, considering it. I should have a decision this weekend.”

Ritter said she’ll make a decision next week.

With about 71 percent of District 19 voters in Palm Beach County, Broward candidates Ring and Ritter both said they would have to analyze whether multiple Broward candidates would hurt each other and maximize Palm Beach County’s advantage.

Wexler

Wexler, 48, is to discuss his timetable for leaving office and other details publicly Wednesday morning after speaking to several Democrats individually this week and in a conference call tonight.

Wexler’s departure is likely to set off a scramble among Democrats to replace him in a special election in an overwhelmingly Democratic Palm Beach-Broward congressional district with a large population of Jewish and senior voters.

Among the potential candidates: state Sens. Ted Deutch of Boca Raton and Jeremy Ring of Coral Springs, West Palm Beach Mayor Lois Frankel, former Boca Raton state Rep. Irving Slosberg, Broward County Mayor Stacy Ritter and former Broward Mayor Ben Graber.

Ring, who said Wexler told him Monday he will be “moving on,” confirmed his interest in running for the congressional seat. Slosberg, who once toyed with the idea of challenging Wexler in a Democratic primary, said he’s “leaving his options open.”

Frankel and Deutch said they’d wait for Wexler to go public before discussing their plans.

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Democractic activist Joan Joseph poses in her Lake Worth office before the 2008 Democratic National Convention, where she served as a delegate. (Cydney Scott/Palm Beach Post)

UPDATE: Democratic activist and prolific lensman Rick Neuhoff has posted a large collection of photos of Joan Joseph here. Also, a memorial page has been set up here.

Joan Joseph, a Jupiter resident who was a key political operative for candidates from Barack Obama to West Palm Beach Mayor Lois Frankel, died early today of cancer.

Mrs. Joseph, 64, was a go-to figure for Democratic candidates seeking to build a grass-roots organization in Florida. She was a paid staffer in Palm Beach County for Al Gore’s 2000 presidential campaign, then was the statewide coordinator of volunteers for John Kerry’s 2004 campaign.

When Barack Obama launched his presidential bid in early 2007 as a decided underdog, Mrs. Joseph was a key early organizer in Florida.

“She was one of the first people that we went to for Obama” in Florida, said Kirk Wagar, who was the Obama campaign’s Florida finance chairman. Obama’s first major Florida event, a March 2007 “low-dollar” fund-raiser that drew about 1,000 people to the Palm Beach County Convention Center, was largely put together by Mrs. Joseph, Wagar said.

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U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, D-Miami, makes his first appearance in Palm Beach County as a Senate candidate at 11:45 a.m. Saturday. West Palm Beach Mayor Lois Frankel is slated to appear with Meek at the courtyard outside the new City Hall and library downtown. It’s part of Meek’s effort to collect signatures to get on the 2010 ballot.

Meek

Meek is the best-known Democrat running for the seat of retiring Republican Sen. Mel Martinez. State Sen. Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach, recently dropped out of the Senate race to run for attorney general, but U.S. Rep. Corinne Brown, D-Jacksonville, has been exploring a Senate run.

Gov. Charlie Crist and former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio are running on the Republican side.

Said Klein: “I am proud to support Kendrick Meek for U.S. Senate. His hard work helped Democrats take back the majority in Congress in 2006. As a U.S. Senator, Kendrick will fight for our entire state and help pass critical legislation like the Homeowners’ Defense Act. He has my full support, and I look forward to seeing Kendrick working on the other side of the Capitol Rotunda soon.”

West Palm Beach Mayor Lois Frankel, a Democrat and former (and future?) congressional hopeful, has also endorsed Meek.

While Meek is the apparent Democatic frontrunner, a Quinnipiac University poll last week shows he’s little-known among voters, especially when compared to the GOP’s Senate frontrunner, Gov. Charlie Crist.

West Palm Beach officials on Thursday formally open their new city hall, which Post’s Jose Lambiet reports includes a nice treat for Mayor Lois Frankel: her new office includes a marble shower.

Here’s Frankel’s response:

“I didn’t ask for it. The designer did. I don’t even know if I’ll ever use the shower. But this building was constructed to last 100 years and it’s not been built for me. It’s been built for mayors after me.”

More here.

WEST PALM BEACH — A Democratic billboard campaign against Rush Limbaugh succeeded today in sparking a high-decibel sidewalk political debate that managed to upstage Mayor Lois Frankel.

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