Jesse Scheckner
The Miami-Dade Democratic Party’s annual Blue Gala is coming up, but the mood of the room will be markedly different than in years past.
There’s a sense of excitement, of earnest optimism. The party is mixing a lot more offense in with its defensive game this election cycle, and it’s going to pay off big in November, said Miami Gardens Sen. Shevrin Jones, Chair of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party.
“Democrats have a newfound energy,” he told Florida Politics. “You see it in the amount of local caucuses and clubs that are on the ground every day making phone calls, knocking on doors and doing those things. That’s what democracy looks like.”
Tickets to the Blue Gala on Saturday at the Miami Beach Convention Center sold out quickly, though Jones said there are still sponsorship opportunities for the event, which will stream online for free.
Leaning into the surging presidential candidacy of Kamala Harris, the gala is women-led and will include no shortage of focus on women’s issues. Abortion access is on the ballot, after all, despite the best efforts of Gov. Ron DeSantis.
“Everyone says every election that this is the most consequential one of our lifetime; I genuinely feel and mean that when I say that about this one, and I want to do as much as I can to help my party deliver a win at the national and local levels,” said Miami-Dade Commissioner Danielle Cohen Higgins, who is co-chairing the soirée with LPAC Interim Executive Director Janelle Perez.
“I had the pleasure of attending the DNC (Democratic National Convention) with my mom for the first time in Chicago, and I was so thankful to be in the room when our Vice President accepted her nomination. The enthusiasm is real. It’s palpable, ongoing and consistent.”
This year’s gala features a strong selection of speakers and awardees. Florida Democratic Party Chair Jaime Harrison, who is making his third trip to the Sunshine State, will deliver the keynote address.
U.S. Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware, who serves in the seat Joe Biden once held and took Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley to task after they challenged the 2020 election results, will precede him and previously held the keynote spot until Harrison’s participation was confirmed.
Also speaking: U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson, Miami-Dade’s only Democratic federal lawmaker; Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, the county’s first woman and Jewish Mayor; former U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel Powell, who is running to unseat Rick Scott in the U.S. Senate; David Hogg, who survived the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High and turned that tragedy into action as one of the nation’s most recognizable gun control advocates; and civil rights lawyer Benjamin Crump, whose list of high-profile cases is both impressive and a reminder of the challenges still present in the U.S.
Crump will also receive the party’s “Champion for Change” award alongside U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost of Orlando and community organizers Maca Iglesias and Venusmia Fernandez Lovely.
Together, the speakers and honorees are emblematic of the inclusive nature of the Democratic Party, particularly in a place as diverse as Miami-Dade, said county Commission Chair Oliver Gilbert, who won re-election unopposed in June.
“When you look at us as a party, (composed of) people born in South and Central America, the Caribbean, all across America, we’re a party that’s diverse in every respect. We look and sound like the American dream,” he said.
“One of the greatest fears of folks who don’t want the Democratic Party to coalesce is that if ever people pay attention, they’ll realize there’s a place in this party for everyone. And people are paying attention, and when people pay attention, we get a chance to actually talk about the things that are important to us. And what you’ll find is that the things that are important to Democrats — opportunity, a right for a woman to control her own body, diversity, educational and economic opportunities, and ensuring we have a planet to pass on to our children — you’ll find that those things are fundamental not just to the American experience but the American dream.”
A red wave swept across Florida in the 2022 Midterms, and not even typically blue Miami-Dade was spared. DeSantis carried the county by 11 points. County Democrats lost several state legislative seats. Wilson was the only candidate with a “D” next to her name to capture more votes than her GOP challenger.
Two years later, Democrats from the grassroots level upward are confident that won’t happen again. Harris’ entry to the race is certainly a “massive booster shot” to the endeavor, Coral Gables Democratic Club President Bentonne Snay said. But it also has a lot to do with a shift in party leadership.
Miami-born former Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried was elected last year to lead the Florida Democratic Party. In March, she removed the Miami-Dade Democrats’ then-Chair, prompting a short contest that Jones handily won.
The change has proven instrumental, according to Snay.
“There has been a lot more positivity. Shev, you just want to hug him. He exudes love and happiness and has that charismatic, positive, we’re-going-to-get-it-done attitude,” she said.
“This is really the first Presidential Election where there’s been more effective leadership at the state and county levels, and it’s definitely helping. They’re generating more excitement, more of a sense of being able to be effective in getting out the vote.”
Jones said he’s been telling members to not only seek inspiration from others but to find it within themselves, to identify their personal north star and let it guide them toward making Nov. 5 the start of a new chapter for Democrats in the county and across Florida.
Democratic voters in Miami-Dade still outnumber their Republican counterparts, who trail no-party voters as the third-largest voting group in the county. They should act like it, Jones said.
“I told the membership, ‘Find that one word that motivates you in this moment and use it as your energy to push and continue to maintain Miami-Dade as a blue county,’ because I don’t want to hear this BS that Miami-Dade is really a red county. We absolutely are not,” he said.
“We saw that in the Primary, and we’re going to make it clear we’re a blue county in November.”
