Staff Reports
Patricia “Patti” Brigham is the new president of The League of Women Voters of Florida, the organization announced Friday.
Outgoing president Pamela Goodman will pass the gavel to Brigham, a veteran state board member and Orange County league leader, at the meeting of the state board on Saturday.
Brigham joined the League of Women Voters of Orange County in 2013, the League’s state board in 2015 and moved into the position of first vice president in 2016, a press release said.
“In 2016, in the days following the mass shooting at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Patti partnered with Goodman to form the Florida Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence which now includes more than 100 organizational partners,” according to the release.
“This is an exciting time for the League with the growth we’re experiencing and so many young people eager to be ready to vote,” Brigham said. “I hope to carry forward Pam’s many accomplishments and build on them.”
The League says it’s experienced an 80 percent growth in membership in the last three years and is now the second largest league in the country.
“Election years are when the League becomes particularly vital to voters to help them make informed choices,” Brigham added. “I’m ready and excited for the challenge.”
Goodman, who was president for the last three years, will next be executive director of Ruth’s List, “working to encourage more women to run for public office in Florida,” the release said.
Its website says it is specifically “dedicated to building a progressive Florida by recruiting and assisting pro-choice Democratic women to successfully run for public office.”
