Mark NeJame plans to host Kamala Harris fundraiser, potentially in Florida

Mark NeJame, via NeJame Law.

Orlando lawyer Mark NeJame hosted Florida fundraisers in the past for Joe Biden, but decided he was done this cycle.

But now that the President has stepped aside and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to be the 2024 Democratic nominee, NeJame hopes to rally Florida’s top donors to support her campaign.

“With pleasure I will be contributing and will be holding a large fundraiser for her,” he said.

That’s a shift for NeJame, who this cycle had given significantly less to Democrats than in prior years.

He has donated $3,300 to U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost and $1,000 apiece to state Rep. Anna Eskamani and state Sen.-elect Carlos Guillermo Smith. All are Orlando area Democrats in safe blue seats. Smith won an open Senate seat without opposition last month.

But according to Open Secrets, NeJame has donated generously at the state and federal level in the past. That includes supporting presidential runs by Biden, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. But he also had contributed to Democrats running for Congress in the past, including U.S. Rep. Darren Soto, a Kissimmee Democrat targeted by national Republicans this year, and former U.S. Rep. Val Demings, the Democratic nominee for Senate against Rubio in 2022.

He was among many donors this cycle who had decided sending more money to Biden was the wrong move.

“I made a decision, and I voiced it,” NeJame said, “and I was hopeful he would take the patriotic actions that he did. The perception that most of the public held concerning his mental acuity was insurmountable.”

NeJame feels confident that Harris can defeat former President Donald Trump this fall if delegates to the Democratic National Convention nominate her next month. Most delegates nationwide already committed to do so, according to tracking by The Associated Press. That includes the vast majority of Florida’s delegates.

For the record, NeJame still holds confidence in Biden as President, and feels the transition to Harris was “masterful politically.”

“He put country before ego, and when he read the tea leaves, he realized that he was not in a good position against Trump,” NeJame said.

“He quickly came out and supported his Vice President, who has worked alongside him for four years. I think that knowing we only have 100 days in front of us, it allowed a peaceful and sane decision to be made amongst the delegates and others, rather than all the chaos that would have ensued within 100 days if it hadn’t been done that way.”

Now the delegates have spoken with impressive uniformity, NeJame said, which should signal to donors that Harris is the course for 2024. He plans to host fundraisers for her, as he has the last three Democratic nominees for President, and would like the event to take place in Orlando.

But he’s impressed to see Harris’ campaign already raised more than $100 million in the first 48 hours since she formally announced her candidacy.

That’s in part, NeJame believes, because Harris serves as a perfect foil to Trump, pitting a former prosecutor and Attorney General against a convicted felon and a woman supporting abortion rights against the man who appointed Justices who overturned Roe v. Wade. He also sees the 59-year-old Harris as a symbol of the future, while Trump unquestionably represents a return to the past.

“So many of President Biden’s detractors commented about his age,” NeJame said, “and ironically and hypocritically, if Donald trump is to be elected, he would be older than President Biden was during his term.”

NeJame also feels passion for the environment. “To Trump and the climate deniers: Has anyone stepped outside lately?” he said.

He feels with a shift in the nominee, the election also can more readily contrast the economy today to that the Democratic administration inherited from Trump.

“Contrary to what Trump’s endless lies would have you believe, we have declining inflation, declining crime, we have record stock markets, we have record employment,” he said.

“And anybody who understands economics understands he (Biden) inherited an economy post-COVID, where everything was restricted. Of course, when everything reopened, the demand exceeded the supply, and naturally inflation took place. That’s a function of business feeding a hungry population.

Biden struggled to explain that to the public in a clear fashion, NeJame said, he doesn’t expect Harris to make the same stumbles.

“She is a perfect advocate to bring out the truth and identify mistruths,” he said.