Florida Democratic Party
| Florida Democratic Party | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Chairperson | Allison Tant |
| Senate leader | Senate Democratic Leader Arthenia Joyner |
| House leader | House Democratic Leader Mark Pafford |
| Founded | 1834 |
| Headquarters |
214 S. Bronough Street Tallahassee, Florida  United States |
| Ideology |
Progressivism Social liberalism American liberalism |
| National affiliation | Democratic Party |
| Colors | Blue |
| Seats in the Upper House |
13 / 40 |
| Seats in the Lower House |
45 / 120 |
| Website | |
|
www | |
|
Politics of the United States Political parties Elections | |
The Florida Democratic Party (FDP) is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the state of Florida.
History
The Florida Democratic Party has historically dominated Florida's state and local politics. Florida's Governor's Mansion was closed to Republicans 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 Nixon's Southern Strategy, which took advantage of white objections to the advances of the American Civil Rights Movement 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, and 2012 (Barack Obama). The presidential election in 2000 was decided by a margin of 537 votes out of approximately 6 million cast, 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. Since then, the number of Democrats in both chambers have continued to drop. 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. However, in the 2006 election the Democrats actually gained seats in the State House, the first instance of this occurring since the early 1980s.
In the 2006 election, the Democratic nominee for Governor was U.S. Representative Jim Davis from Tampa, Florida. He lost the election to Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist.
The most Democratic region of the state is South Florida, which contains the large cities of Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach. The Tampa Bay region is also relatively Democratic, although it has become much more competitive in recent electoral cycles. Leon County, which contains the state capitol of Tallahassee, and Alachua County, home to the city of Gainesville and the University of Florida, are also strong Democratic areas. North Florida and the panhandle are also very Democratic on the local level, although those two regions are solid Republican strongholds in presidential elections.
Florida Democrats demanded, on March 13, 2008, a new primary vote, and state party officials have a proposal for recouping the 210 delegates the Sunshine State lost when it moved its primary ahead of the approved time frame. After weeks of negotiations, the Florida Democratic Party said March 17, 2008 it would not hold a second primary in the state.
The current chairman of the Florida Democratic Party is Allison Tant, who replaced former Florida State Senator Rod Smith on January 26, 2013.[1]
Florida Democratic Party under Allison Tant
Since Allison Tant has come into power, the Florida Democratic Party has suffered numerous losses in terms of party leadership and representation in the state of Florida.
Allison Tant wrote in an April 30 column that Governor Rick Scott allowed Republican legislators to cut his teacher pay raise proposal by 60 percent. [2] Politifact found this allegation to be false. [3]
Allison Tant openly feuded with Rep. Darryl Rouson over house campaigns. [4] Allison Tant ran into further embarrassment after she nominated candidate Allie Braswell for CFO. Braswell would enter the race and drop out after four days after it was revealed that he had filed for bankruptcy three times. Braswell was the Democrat's first candidate for a 2014 election. [5] During the Florida State 2014 elections, six state house Democrats lost their reelection house seats to Republicans. [6]
Allison Tant hosted Governor Charlie Crist at a key Democratic fundraiser while Senator Nan Rich was out campaigning for the Democratic nomination for governor. RPOF chariman Lenny Curry and the Republicans supported Nan Rich through the #FreeNanRich movement.They alluded that Senator Rich was being held down by her own party in favor of Charlie Crist despite the fact that Nan Rich had been the only active candidate.
After Charlie Crist lost the 2014 Governor's Race to Rick Scott, Jeff Henderson of Sunshine State News noted that Allison Tant and the Florida Democrats had ridden on Charlie Crist, but his success didnb't happen. In the meanwhile, they hadn't attempted to challenge Jeff Atwater or Adam Putnam. [7]
After a disastrous 2014 election cycle, Debbie Wasserman Schultz ordered up the Democratic Victory Task Force, which she said would "take a deep dive" to figure out what went wrong in 2014. [8]
Similarly, Allison Tant, created her own task force called LEAD, which stands for Leadership Expansion to Advance Democrats.[9]
Current Federal Democratic Officeholders
United States Senate
| U.S. Senators |
|---|
| Bill Nelson, Senior Member of the United States Senate from the state of Florida. |
United States House of Representatives
| U.S. Representatives |
|---|
| Gwen Graham, 2nd District- Tallahassee, Panama City |
| Corrine Brown, 5th District- Gainesville, Jacksonville, Orlando. |
| Alan Grayson, 9th District- Orlando, Kissimmee, St. Cloud. |
| Kathy Castor, 14th District- Tampa, St. Petersburg. |
| Patrick Murphy, 18th District- Ft. Pierce, Palm Beach. |
| Alcee Hastings, 20th District- West Palm Beach, Pompano Beach, Delray Beach. |
| Ted Deutch, 21st District- Greenacres, Coral Springs. |
| Lois Frankel, 22nd District- Ft. Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Boca Raton. |
| Debbie Wasserman Schultz, 23rd District- Miami, Pompano Beach, Weston. |
| Frederica Wilson, 24th District- North Miami, Miramar. |
Former Florida Governors and U.S. Senators
Governors
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| Former Governors of Florida |
|---|
| Buddy MacKay |
| Lawton Chiles |
| Wayne Mixson |
| Bob Graham |
| Reubin Askew |
| W. Haydon Burns |
| C. Farris Bryant |
| LeRoy Collins |
| Daniel McCarty |
| Fuller Warren |
| Miller Caldwell |
| Spessard Holland |
| Fred Cone |
| David Sholtz |
| Doyle Carlton |
| John Martin |
| Cary Hardee |
| Park Trammell |
| Albert Gilchrist |
| Napoleon Broward |
| William Jennings |
| William Bloxham |
| Henry Mitchell |
| Francis Fleming |
| Edward Perry |
| William Bloxham |
| George Drew |
| Abraham Allison |
| John Milton |
| Madison Perry |
| James Broome |
| William Moseley |
United States Senators
| Former U.S. Senators from Florida |
|---|
| Bob Graham |
| Lawton Chiles |
| Richard Stone |
| George Smathers |
| Spessard Holland |
| Charles Andrews |
| Scott Loftin |
| Claude Pepper |
| William Luther Hill |
| Park Trammell |
| Nathan Bryan |
| James Taliaferro |
| Duncan Fletcher |
| William Milton |
| William James Bryan |
| Samuel Pasco |
| Charles Jones |
| Stephen Mallory II |
| Wilkinson Call |
| Stephen Mallory |
| James Westcott |
| David Levy Yulee |
See also
References
- ↑ http://www.floridadems.org/newsroom/pressrelease/florida-democrats-elect-allison-tant-lead-party
- ↑ http://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2013/may/06/allison-tant/democratic-party-chair-allison-tant-attacks-gov-ri/
- ↑ http://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2013/may/06/allison-tant/democratic-party-chair-allison-tant-attacks-gov-ri/
- ↑ http://floridagop.tumblr.com/post/85536999270/allison-tant-fdps-term-of-failure
- ↑ http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/story/allison-tant-and-florida-dems-dropped-ball-allie-braswell
- ↑ http://mcimaps.com/how-florida-democrats-fared-in-2014s-local-elections/
- ↑ http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/story/charlie-crist-allison-tant-preside-over-debacle-democrats
- ↑ http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/fl-democratic-party-future-20141224-story.html
- ↑ http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/fl-democratic-party-future-20141224-story.html
External links
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