As we reported in an earlier post, Hillsborough County Democrats, who have become famed for having "issues" amongst themselves that stretches back to the earlier part of the last decade, came together last night and showed a display of unity in selecting their new head officials to lead the party over the next couple of years.
Then again, perhaps dispirited after their shellacking at the polls last month, there simply weren't more than the four candidates who wanted to run for the top gigs inside the party (new party chair Christopher Mitchell and the three other new officers all ran unopposed).
However, as other Democratic committees meet up this week, there are some places where tension is surfacing.
The great Bill Cotterell of the Tallahassee Democrat writes about the Leon County Democrats last night. The whole story is relatively short, and relatively entertaining (in a sad, divisive way) that we had to share:
Exposing a racial rift, Leon County Democrats voted Monday night to oust their chairman — who boycotted the meeting and said he won't give up the title.
The selection of Teri Cariota to succeed Leon Democratic Executive Committee Chairman Larry Simmons was widely seen as a revolt against Democratic National Committeeman Jon Ausman. He and Simmons appeared at the start of the two-hour session to protest that it was illegally convened.
Simmons, who is black, and Ausman, a former county chairman and campaign strategist for more than 30 years, said black Democrats did not receive proper notice of the meeting. A postcard sent to DEC members Nov. 22 said the meeting would be held Monday, but Simmons said he sent out a second notice last week saying the election would be next Monday.
This article appears in Dec 2-8, 2010.
