Florida Democrats may need ‘new direction’ after party chairman resigns

Tallahassee, Florida. The search is on for the next chairman of the Florida Democratic Party. This comes after the current leader, Manny Diaz, suddenly resigned Monday.

The former mayor of Miami served in the seat for a year and oversaw a series of brutal defeats during the November midterm elections. This included the Republicans who seized the Florida cabinet, retaining the governorship and a seat in the US Senate. The Republican Party also won overwhelming majorities in both houses of the State Legislature.

AT long letter According to members, Díaz attributed the party’s failures to a lack of resources, volunteers, and poor-quality messaging. Despite this, he said that Florida is not the “red state” that the Republicans suggest. He ended by noting that it was time for a change.

“Maybe it’s not always an attempt to fix what’s broken,” Diaz said. “Maybe it’s about starting over and building something better.”

“One thing is clear. They have to move in a whole new direction,” said University of South Florida professor emeritus Dr. Susan McManus, an expert on Florida politics.

McManus said the party’s next leader would face difficulties. Not only will they need to increase their fundraising and radically improve the Democratic ground game, but they will also need to engage the youth of Florida.

“Democrats cannot win without a large segment of younger voters who increasingly turn their backs on both parties and register as nonpartisan,” she said.

The question is who is best suited for this job? The names are already coming up.

Some speculate that former agriculture commissioner Nikki Fried will be the last Democrat to win office in Florida. Internet, Tallahassee City Commissioner Jeremy Matlow and former state Senator Annette Taddeo declared interest.

But, as progressives like Rep. Angie Nixon of Jacksonville point out, whoever wins will have to reach out to various party members and bridge the divide over what went wrong in 2022 and what how to move forward.

“We are not a monolith, the Democratic Party, and we need someone who understands that,” Nixon said. “We need someone who’s going to bring us together, basically.”

Meanwhile, the Republicans continue to advertise their supposed strength. This includes Gov. Ron DeSantis, who digged into the Democrats on Tuesday morning.

“As far as the resignation of the chairman of the other party, there are not as many Democrats around as there used to be in the state of Florida,” DeSantis said, speaking in Bonita Springs. “We had something to do with it in November 2022.”

We have reached out to the Florida Democratic Party for comment on the chairman’s departure and next steps. As of Tuesday afternoon, we have not yet received a response. However, the party’s charter requires a meeting to be held within 30 days to select a temporary chairman until the executive committee meets to formally elect a successor.