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McAuliffe’s consultant says he expects Aronberg to run, while many party bigs say they are hoping to avoid a primary that county Democratic Chairman Mark Alan Siegel says would be “heartbreaking.”
Read about it in this week’s Politics column.
Siegel
“People are allowed flights of political metaphor,” Siegel said Wednesday outside the Kravis Center, where about 80 Democratic and union activists protested Texas Gov. Rick Perry‘s appearance for a fundraiser.
PostOnPolitics asked Siegel if he would have had the same reaction a few years ago if a Republican elected official had suggested that opponents of George W. Bush be sent to the hoosegow.
Siegel rejected any parallel.
Carole Pollack was inducted as a Palm Beach County Democratic precinct captain Thursday night. Less than two hours later, after listening to party members shout each other down and seeing several walk out in protest, Pollack herself was storming out of a Democratic Executive Committee meeting in West Delray saying she might never return.
Pollack witnessed an intramural Democratic bloodbath over whether the party should take action against Democratic County Commissioners Burt Aaronson and Shelley Vana and state Sen. Maria Sachs for bucking the party and endorsing Republican-turned-independent Charlie Crist in the Nov. 2 U.S. Senate race.
Committee members who stayed to the bitter end rejected a motion to censure the elected officials but voted to authorize a committee to send a “brisk” letter telling them of their disapproval.
Pollack didn’t stick around for the final vote.
“This is the first time I’ve been here. I’m not sure that it won’t be the last. I’m very upset by what I’m seeing here,” she told the party activists who met at Temple Emeth.
“Rod Smith has set the stage for our rebirth as a modern, inclusive grassroots party which can fulfill the hopes and dreams of its many dedicated workers and constituencies,” Siegel said in a statement released by Smith.
Smith’s main rival for the job now appears to be Tallahassee City Commissioner and People For the American Way Foundation operative Andrew Gillum, who anticipated Siegel’s endorsement this morning and downplayed its significance.
“This race is about more than doing whatever it takes to seal one or two endorsements, it’s about giving the Florida Democratic Party the fresh start we need to win elections,” Gillum said. “I respect the senior members of our party, but I believe that we are in a new era that demands an open process that will energize our base.”
Smith
Smith, Palm Beach County Democratic Chairman Mark Alan Siegel, Hillsborough County Democratic Committeeman Alan Clendenin and Tallahassee City Commissioner Andrew Gillum are running for state chairman. The election is expected in January.
Read Smith’s full press release after the jump…
Despite grumblings from Palm Beach County Democratic Chairman Mark Alan Siegel to the contrary, former state Sen. Rod Smith insists he’ll be the next state party chairman.
“I believe I’ll be the appointee,” said Smith, a Gainesville-area former prosecutor who most recently was Alex Sink’s running-mate in her losing bid for governor.
His bid to replace Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Karen Thurman, who is retiring, got a boost yesterday when an officer of the Alachua County party stepped down to make room for Smith.
Smith would have to be elected the chairman of the county executive committee or state committee man before he can be eligible to run as head of the FDP.
Once that happens, Smith said he’ll continue to build support from activists, donors and other county leaders.
“It’s a process that’s ongoing. It sometimes appears slow and ponderous but it’s an important process that allows people to have input about their concerns,” Smith, 61, said.
Siegel
But with Smith no longer seen as the slam dunk he appeared to be for a couple days last week, Siegel today says he’s all in.
“I think I’m a very viable candidate,” said Siegel, who must win reelection to his county chairmanship on Dec. 2 to be eligible for the state post.
What’s changed since last week?
“I became convinced that I really have something to offer that’s different than he does. It seems that, regrettably, his candidacy is kind of stalling. That hasn’t diminished my admiration for him at all,” Siegel said.
Siegel
But if Thurman decides to step down in the middle of her four-year term, Siegel says he’s interested in her job.
“If she does retire, yes, I’m interested,” Siegel said.
Democratic Senate hopeful Kendrick Meek followed independent rival Charlie Crist’s lead and decided not to cross a stagehands union picket line to attend today’s Forum Club of the Palm Beaches lunch at the Kravis Center. Meek joined picketers outside the event for awhile, as did Palm Beach County Democratic Chairman Mark Alan Siegel.
But other Democrats attended the Forum Club lunch. Find out who after the jump…
The deadline for candidates to qualify for the 2010 ballot in state and local races — from the governorship to the Jupiter Inlet Commission board — is Friday at noon.
Democrats don’t have a candidate in Palm Beach County Commission District 4 to challenge Republican Steven Abrams, despite a slight Democratic registration edge in the district and county Democratic Chairman Mark Alan Siegel’s declaration last year that “we believe it’s our seat.”
Siegel now says Abrams is a pretty decent guy for a Republican.
Read about it in this week’s Politics column.
Palm Beach County Democratic Chairman Mark Alan Siegel, who early on the night of the Feb. 2 Democratic primary forecast “upwards of 80 percent” for Ted Deutch (he got 85.2 percent), is predicting Deutch will get more than 60 percent of the vote in Palm Beach County in today’s special general election.
“The forecast is mid-60s….63, 64 something like that,” said Siegel, who based his forecast on Democratic turnout at key precincts in Palm Beach County. He predicted a slightly lower percentage for Deutch in Broward County, which is about 30 percent of congressional District 19.
Former U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler never got below 65.6 percent in a general election in the district. Wexler stepped down in January to head a Middle East think tank.
“We’re still hoping to get an out-of-town keynoter,” county Democratic Chairman Mark Alan Siegel said this morning. But, he said, “you can have a dinner without a speaker.”
The Dems’ $150-and-up dinner at the Palm Beach County Convention Center is on the same night as a “Going Green” lecture at Mizner Park in Boca Raton by former Vice President Al Gore, with tickets ranging from $44.10 to $339.
Kucinich
He’s the second Democratic keynoter to be scratched this week. The party dumped Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu on Tuesday because local activists were upset by her refusal to commit to blocking a Republican filibuster of health care overhaul legislation.
After Kucinich was announced as the replacement speaker, state Rep. Kevin Rader, D-Delray Beach, threatened a boycott and state Sen. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, County Commissioner Burt Aaronson and state Rep. Maria Sachs, D-Delray Beach, voiced disapproval today.
Kucinich has a long history of criticizing the actions of the Israeli government, voting against congressional resolutions in support of Israel and opposing sanctions against the anti-Israel government of Iran.
His critics have “falsely characterized” those stances as being anti-Israel, Kucinich said this afternoon in an e-mail to Palm Beach County Democratic Chairman Mark Alan Siegel. While defending his position, Kucinich said he didn’t want the controversy to hurt the local party’s money-raising efforts.
Read his complete statement to Siegel after the jump….
Its original Jefferson-Jackson name was dropped because of qualms about Thomas Jefferson’s slave ownership and Andrew Jackson’s Indian-removal policies. Then the renamed Truman-Kennedy-Johnson dinner’s planned keynote speaker, moderate Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu, was unceremoniously dumped this week because party leaders disliked Landrieu’s stance on health care reform.
Now Landrieu’s replacement — liberal U.S. Rep. and former presidential candidate Denis Kucinich, D-Ohio — is prompting a boycott threat from state Rep. Kevin Rader, D-Delray Beach, because of Kucinich’s voting record on Israel.
State Sen. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, has announced he won’t attend or support the event, calling Kucinich “someone whose position on Israel stands in total opposition to the conscience of this community.”
As noted this morning, Palm Beach County’s Democratic Party has dumped moderate Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu as its keynote speaker for next week’s annual fund-raising dinner because party activists are displeased with Landrieu’s stance on health care.
Landrieu says she’s “very skeptical about a government-run national option” and won’t commit to voting to cut off a Republican filibuster to force a vote on Democratic health care legislation.
County Democratic Chairman Mark Alan Siegel announced the dis-invitation of Landrieu this morning.
“This is news to us,” Landrieu spokesman Robert Sawicki said in an e-mail this afternoon. “Sen. Landrieu agreed to do this event as a favor to Palm Beach Democrats, and no one from the Palm Beach Democratic Party has notified us about a change in plans for the dinner.”
Landrieu
Landrieu, a moderate who recently described herself as “extremely concerned about a government-run, taxpayer-funded, national public plan,” has not committed to voting to cut off a likely Republican filibuster and forcing a vote on the legislation.
Biden
Tickets start at $1,000.
Gilbert was campaign finance chairman for Ron Klein in 2006 when the Democratic challenger raised more than $4.1 million and ousted incumbent Republican Rep. Clay Shaw to represent a Palm Beach-Broward congressional seat. Gilbert also raised money for Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign.
“It’s important for Palm Beach County to have people with a national voice and a national reach that allows our view to be put forth,” said county Democratic Chairman Mark Alan Siegel, who’s going to the lunch.
After the Boca stop, Biden heads to Miami for another fund-raiser. President Obama was in Miami Beach to raise money for Democratic House and Senate candidates on Monday night.
Deutch is the best-known Palm Beach County candidate who has announced for the Palm Beach-Broward seat of U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Boca Raton, who’s leaving in January to head a Middle East-focused think tank.
Another well-known Palm Beach County Democrat — West Palm Beach Mayor Lois Frankel — is also considering the race.
Asked about Frankel, Siegel said: “As good as she is, and as great a representative as she would make, I don’t think she would find any support among the organized ranks of the party.”
The Democratic party’s policy committee includes top party officials, “zone leaders” responsible for get-out-the-vote efforts and presidents of Democratic clubs. A formal vote wasn’t taken, Siegel said, because of party rules against making endorsements in primaries.
The event used to be known as the Jefferson-Jackson dinner, but Declaration of Independence author Thomas Jefferson’s slave ownership and $20 bill portrait model Andrew Jackson’s “Trail of Tears” Indian-removal policies offended the sensibilities of local Dem leaders. The name of the event was changed to the Truman-Kennedy-Johnson dinner instead.
County Democratic Chairman Mark Alan Siegel said the party hopes to draw about 500 people to the $150-and-up event.
County Democratic Chairman Siegel says $4.34 rate is OK
Because overall property values have declined, the 14.9 percent rate hike would generate roughly the same amount of revenue in 2009-10 as the county is getting this year and therefore wouldn’t meet the state’s legal definition of a tax increase. But homesteaded property owners, whose taxes have been relatively flat in recent years because of appraisal limits in the state’s Save Our Homes act, would see higher tax bills under the plan.
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