District 63 House Democrat Mark Danish owes nearly all of his November 2012 victory over Republican incumbent Shawn Harrison to an incredible grass-roots campaign, as the state Democratic party pretty much sat out the race.
But less than a week after participating in his first full session in Tallahassee, the native New Yorker said party officials claimed they will back him when the 2014 election cycle begins, and he's been told that he's being groomed for a leadership position.
"I have to go back next year and come back even stronger to show them I'm worthy of moving into a leadership role," he told the Hillsborough GLBTA Democratic Caucus, who gathered Wednesday night at J.J.'s Bar and Grill in Ybor City for their monthly meeting.
A middle-school teacher who was able to take a leave of absence to work in the state capitol for two months, Danish joked that though he worked extremely hard in Tallahassee, it paled in comparison to the daily rigors of teaching kids.
This article appears in May 9-15, 2013.