Over the weekend former state senator and losing Lieutenant Governor nominee Rod Smith officially became coronated the new chair of the Florida Democratic Party.
On Tuesday, Smith named several folks to work as Vice Chairs underneath him, including Allison Berke Morano, the Chair of the Pasco County Democrats Board of Directors, as well as Congresswoman Frederica Wilson and Palm Beach County DEC head Mark Alan Siegel (rumored at one point to be a possible candidate for party chair).
Tallahassee City Commissioner Andrew Gillum challenged Smith late in the race for party chair, but dropped out quickly as he realized that in the weeks after the election, Smith had rallied support making him the consensus favorite.
But Gillum, a 31-year old African-American, definitely had his supporters. So Smith today named him to the just created position as Youth, College, and Young Professional Outreach Chair (Gillum was unavailable for comment).
And Rod Smith announced several select committees within the party, including a select committee to study if the Florida Democratic Party should adopt a platform, to be chaired by DNC and Hillsborough County State Committeeman Alan Clendenin. Another committee will study the rules governing endorsements by local parties, to be chaired by Mark Alan Siegel.
This article appears in Jan 6-12, 2011.