Miami-Dade Democrats unveil featured speakers for 2024 Blue Gala in Miami Beach

Image via Florida Politics.

The Miami-Dade Democratic Party’s 2024 Blue Gala is next week. In anticipation of the festivities, the party just released its list of featured speakers and award honorees.

Atop the list as the keynote speaker is Florida Democratic Party Chair Jaime Harrison.

He’ll be preceded onstage by U.S. Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, gun control advocate David Hogg, civil rights lawyer Benjamin Crump and former U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, who is now running to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. Rick Scott.

Each has been outspoken about progressive causes and upholding American democracy.

After the attack on the U.S. Capitol in 2021, Coons called for the invocation of the 25th Amendment to remove ex-President Donald Trump from office. He also called for two of his Republican colleagues, Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz, to resign after they challenged the 2020 election results.

Levine Cava, Miami-Dade’s first woman and Jewish Mayor, spent decades working in the nonprofit space before launching her political career. She was an attorney with Legal Services of Greater Miami, then served as Legal Director of the court-run Guardian Ad Litem program. In 1996, she founded what is now called Catalyst Miami.

Since taking office as a Miami-Dade Commissioner in 2014, Levine Cava led pushes for the county’s first living wage ordinance and other worker benefits and protections, supported LGBTQ inclusion and reproductive freedom, and as Mayor oversaw a drop in local gun violence that bucked national trends.

“There is much at stake in this election cycle and our work to elect countywide constitutional officers for the first time requires all hands on deck,” she said in a statement. “It’s why our work continues through November as we mobilize volunteers and engage voters on what’s at stake in November.”

Hogg rose to prominence after surviving the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School as an organizer for student-led causes including March for Our Lives and Never Again MSD.

Last year, he founded Leaders We Deserve PAC, a political action committee created to “help young, progressive candidates around the country get elected to state Legislatures and the U.S. Congress.”

Crump, a law school graduate of Florida State University, has been involved in many of the most high-profile wrongful death cases in recent memory, including those of Trayvon Martin, Breonna Taylor, Michael Brown, George Floyd and Tyre Nichols.

He has also represented people impacted by the Flint water crisis and the plaintiffs of the 2019 lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson over baby powder that caused ovarian cancer.

He is the founder and principal partner of the Ben Crump Law firm in Tallahassee.

Mucarsel-Powell served one term in the U.S. House and has since dedicated her time as a senior adviser to Giffords, one of the nation’s most prominent gun safety advocacy groups.

Recent polling suggests she’s closing the voter gap with Scott, Florida’s immediate past Governor who is now seeking his second six-year term in Washington.

“We are thrilled to announce our exciting lineup of speakers as well as our award honorees, all of whom are deserving of their flowers for the incredible work they have done to advance democracy and positively impact our community,” said Miami Gardens Democratic state Sen. Shevrin Jones, who in April was elected Chair of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party.

“The 2024 Blue Gala will bring the excitement of the DNC to the 305. Democrats know our democracy and fundamental rights are all on the line in this election, and we’re not going back! We are fired up, ready to work and vote to elect Kamala Harris, Tim Walz, and leaders at every level of the ballot who share our values.”

The Miami-Dade Democratic Party also shared a list of four “Champions for Change” awardees, including Crump.

The others include:

— U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost of Orlando, a former March for Our Lives national organizer who on Nov. 8, 2022, became the first member of Generation Z elected to Congress.

— Community organizer Venusmia Fernandez Lovely, whose political work includes prior service as a state legislative aide, District Field Director for the Progressive Turnout Project and current work as the cofounding host of the Que Lo Que Podcast and Director of Administration and Special Events for the Coconut Grove Business Improvement District.

— Community organizer Maca Iglesias, the Communications Chair of the Democratic Hispanic Caucus of Miami-Dade and Vice Chair of the Miami-Dade Democratic Public Education Caucus who served as a delegate to last month’s Democratic National Convention.

The Blue Gala begins at 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 21 at the Miami Beach Convention Center and will include “festivities designed to ignite activism, ensure a strong voter turnout, and raise much-needed funds to fight for our local, state, and national Democratic candidates,” according to the event’s webpage.

The goal: to “unite our community in support of Democratic candidates at all levels, as we galvanize and prepare for the pivotal 2024 elections.”

“Together,” the group said, “we will build a powerful collaborative, multi-cultural, multi-generational coalition to advocate for policies reflecting our core Democratic values.”

Tickets are sold out. Jones told Florida Politics that the event will stream online and there are still sponsorship opportunities.