Scott Powers
Val Demings, Annette Taddeo, and Randall Perkins are among 16 Democratic congressional candidates nationally to be picked for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s Red To Blue program, signaling stronger financial and organizational backing.
The DCCC selected the trio and also announced that it would include Congressional District 13 in the program, though it did not identify a candidate. Charlie Crist and former Obama administration official Eric Lynn are running in that St. Petersburg-based district.
Demings, a former Orlando police chief, is running in a crowded Democratic field for the Orlando-based Congressional District 10, seeking to take on incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Daniel Webster of Winter Garden.
Perkins also faces a crowded Democratic field in the Palm Beach-based Congressional District 18, all vying to replace incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, who is running for the U.S. Senate.
Taddeo, a former lieutenant governor candidate, is challenging incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Carlos Curbelo in the Miami-based Congressional District 26.
The Washington-watching website Roll Call rates CD 10 “safe Democrat,” CD 13 as “leans Democrat,” and CD 18 and CD 26 “tossups.”
The DCCC is pledging both financial and organizational help to the candidates, as well as exposure to fundraisers.
In announcing her selection for the program, Demings declared that her early grassroots support in run for CD 10 made the difference.
Other Democrats whom Demings faces in the CD 10 race include state Sen. Geraldine Thompson of Orlando, businessman Bob Poe, and lawyer Fatima Rita Fahmy. Demings has had DCCC backing since she entered the race last spring, and that has irked her Democratic rivals.
Florida’s redistricting last fall traded many of CD 10’s heavily Republican areas in Lake County for heavily Democratic areas in Orlando and Pine Hills. As a result, Webster is considering dropping out to run for Congress in another district, most likely Lake County-based Congressional District 11.
“Chief Demings is exactly the kind of leader we need in Washington to help cure Republican dysfunction and find solutions for hardworking families,” DCCC Chairman U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico stated in a news release issued by Demings campaign.
Luján met with Demings in Orlando last month.
“Chief Demings’ extensive record of public service, work to keep Central Floridians safe, and knack for problem-solving are exactly the reasons she has earned the respect of so many,” Luján stated. “Chief Demings will be a trusted fighter on their behalf in Washington.”
