Annette Taddeo’s party leadership stunt nets her another loss

annette taddeo
Taddeo tried to oust Terrie Rizzo. She was soundly defeated.

 On Sunday, the Tampa Bay Times named Florida Democrats as the Winner of the Week in Florida politics for their voter registration efforts.

Meanwhile, party chair Terrie Rizzo secured a major victory over her biggest critic, state Sen. Annette Taddeo, by securing the support of statewide Demss who voted to support her with a Party Unity resolution that passed 845 to 138.

It’s no secret that Taddeo had been attempting to undermine Rizzo through a series of press stories and unflattering quotes.

Taddeo led a small group of critics in forcing a meeting of Florida Democrats and was making calls to party leaders, indicating she had the votes to oust the chair.

The vote results showed the opposite, with Rizzo receiving massive support and a resolution Taddeo backed going down in defeat by a margin of 2 to 1.

And after being soundly defeated, Taddeo showed her petty side by abstaining from voting on the “Unity Resolution” calling on Florida Democrats to end their bickering, come together and support leadership. That resolution passed by a margin of 6 to 1.

Pettiness after a loss is nothing new for Taddeo. Neither is losing.

When asked if she would support the Democratic nominee after losing in a primary bid for Congress, she said “one step at a time.” That’s not the type of rhetoric expected from a state party chair.

Many at the meeting noted Rizzo was dealt a tough hand with the resignation of Stephen Bittel and Sally Boynton Brown less than a year before the election, but still managed to deliver significant wins for Florida Democrats, including Nikki Fried as Commissioner of Agriculture, flipping two Congressional seats and helping bring the largest Democratic delegation to the Legislature since 1998.

Those same leaders also pointed out that Taddeo lacked the bona fides to run the party. Topping the list: Her losing record in decidedly blue Miami-Dade while serving as Chairwoman of the Miami Dade County Democratic Party.

In addition, party leaders and insiders cited her losing record as a candidate.

Taddeo lost both of her congressional bids, including a stinging primary loss to former U.S. Rep. Joe Garcia after outspending him 10 to 1 and having the support of the DCCC.

Taddeo also lost a bid for Miami-Dade Commission and to be her local party’s State Committeewoman. Of course, she was also on the losing side in 2014 as Charlie Crist’s Lt. Gov. pick.

The losing streak is one thing. She’s also consistently (and bafflingly) pretended to be a member of the “middle class.”

As Florida Politics reported, she was selling a 6,500-square-foot mansion valued at $1.25 million in 2015, and she spends campaign funds in the way one would expect of a faux member of the middle class. She also avoids walking the walk on many Democratic Party priorities, such as hiring overseas contractors at her small business so she doesn’t have to pay for their insurance or employment taxes.

If Florida Democrats are looking to lose some elections, Taddeo would have been a great pick for party chair. But that’s not the case, and according to fellow Sen. Kevin Rader it never will be.

“Taddeo’s constant, unfounded attacks on the party leadership was a self-serving and transparent attempt to become the party chair herself,” he said. “That’s never going to happen and she would be better served helping our caucus recruit and elect more state senators.”

Peter Schorsch

Peter Schorsch is the President of Extensive Enterprises Media and is the publisher of FloridaPolitics.com, INFLUENCE Magazine, and Sunburn, the morning read of what’s hot in Florida politics. Previous to his publishing efforts, Peter was a political consultant to dozens of congressional and state campaigns, as well as several of the state’s largest governmental affairs and public relations firms. Peter lives in St. Petersburg with his wife, Michelle, and their daughter, Ella. Follow Peter on Twitter @PeterSchorschFL.


6 comments

  • George Thurlow

    February 11, 2019 at 9:24 am

    Are you forgetting Annette Taddeo flipped a State Senate seat? Meanwhile, when was the last time Kevin Rader flipped a seat from Red to Blue?

  • Ione Townsend

    February 11, 2019 at 9:36 am

    Peter is uniformed. This is a true fake news piece. I do not see that he spoke to even one of the petitioners. There NEVER was a move afoot to replace the chair. Do not use the party to advance your own agenda Peter. For your own credibility get your facts straight.

  • Andres Soberon

    February 11, 2019 at 12:55 pm

    Peter, are you a Pecker Puppet? Senator Annette Taddeo is a winner, a fighter and we her constituents love, admire and respect her and are very proud of having her represent us. There may be an opening on Fux News for you so save this fake news story for future reference when you get on hannity.

  • Ruth Ann Eaddy

    February 11, 2019 at 4:08 pm

    I doubt that you will name your sources. It would be good to know who is trying to destroy the Democratic Party of Florida. Are we so used to hearing and reading lies that we accept this trash story? I don’t think so.

  • DONNA BIRD

    February 11, 2019 at 9:50 pm

    Every candidate should have a clean slate. Nothing should come back haunting you.
    It is hard to know on this story. Terri is an excellent Chair. And works well with the counties. Ann should work with Terri so we can be successful in 2020.

  • Wendy Sejour

    February 11, 2019 at 10:22 pm

    What you fail to mention Peter is that Annette’s small business is a translation agency and those “overseas contractors” are translators from across the globe. That’s what translation companies with an international customer base do. The employees that are based in the agency office, which includes Spanish translators for the most requested language, are in South Florida and are offered health insurance, a pension plan, sick/vacation pay and profit sharing. But you knew that and left out those relevant details because the truth doesn’t fit your agenda.

Comments are closed.


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