Jacob Ogles
Political consultant Alex Berrios is announcing his candidacy to lead the Florida Democratic Party.
“Florida needs bold leadership with experience, vision and a plan to win. That’s why I’m announcing my candidacy for Chair of the Florida Democrats,” Berrios tweeted. “A changing of the guard can be hard but necessary. New ideas and approaches are what we need.”
Berrios founded Mi Vecino, an organization dedicated to registering voters. He suggested his on-the-ground experience would deliver important change to the state political party.
“I worked hard for years, starting as a local Dem volunteer and ending as Senior Advisor at FDP, where I managed multiple departments,” he posted on Twitter.
“I co-founded the data-driven organization Mi Vecino Florida and raised millions for year-round voter registration and organizing. I’ve been on every side of this equation and know what the job takes. Because of my years of direct experience, I will hit the ground running and not lose one year as other Chairs do when they start from scratch. I’ve stayed involved at the executive level and am ready to get to work for us.”
The announcement came a day after Florida Democratic Party Chair Manny Diaz retired following abysmal performance by Florida Democrats in the 2022 Midterms. In November, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis won re-election by more than 19 percentage points, Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio won another term by nearly 17 points, the GOP picked up four U.S. House seats and legislative Republicans secured a supermajority in the state House and Senate.
Of course, voter registration efforts over the last two to four years also showed tremendous weakness on the part of Democrats. As Florida Republicans secured a lead in registered voters for the first time in history, Democrat registration stalled.
That left some questioning if Berrios’ background actually signals success.
“ABSOLUTELY NOT,” tweeted state Rep. Angie Nixon, a Jacksonville Democrat. “This. Is. A. HARD. NO.”
“It’s the audacity for me,” tweeted state Rep. Michele Rayner-Goolsby, a St. Petersburg Democrat.
But others welcomed the news. Gun safety advocate Fred Guttenberg cheered the announcement.
“I love my state, but our party is broken,” Guttenberg tweeted. “Thankful for your leadership and excited to see what happens next.”
Reed Galen, co-founder of The Lincoln Project, also offered praise and tweeted, “Can’t think of anyone better than Alex Berrios to take on this task.”
8 comments
tom palmer
January 11, 2023 at 9:10 am
This ought to be interesting
Deborah Ryan
January 11, 2023 at 12:13 pm
Hand me the popcorn!
Tj
January 11, 2023 at 1:33 pm
Did his group also registered Republicans for voting?
Boaz
January 11, 2023 at 4:07 pm
Is he a former Republican? I ask this question because we all know how much Democrats in Florida love to vote for former Republicans instead of lifelong Democrats for Democratic nominations.
tom palmer
January 11, 2023 at 5:52 pm
Yeah, especially when the GOP plants a Trojan Horse in the field to dilute the vote as they did in 2018
Ronald Crump
January 11, 2023 at 7:37 pm
I cant understand why we are considering Hispanics and White boyz when 97% of registared Democrats in Florida are fired up at the prospect of Andrew Gillum leading our beloved party to a glorious victory in Florida. ANDREW ANDREW ANDREW BLUE WAVE BLUE WAVE BLUE WAVE
Danny Miaz
January 15, 2023 at 8:17 am
Ronald or should I say Donald you know the answer already. Its not because Andrew fell from grace if we thought he would be useful we would drag him up from the ash heap of politics in a New York Minute. We have lost the Black vote in Florida and courting the Hispanic vote is our only way forward.
Catherine Hettinger
January 13, 2023 at 5:49 pm
Sad to say but today what with celebrity to raise money you need a name. Diaz was well known in Miami but who do we know gets recognized statewide? We’ve got Northerners and that culture in the south part of the state and Southerners in the North part.. Central Florida is mixed in with that and we have Democrat on Republican elections as the battleground of the battleground state. But who is famous in Central Florida.. Not sure.
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