Miami multimillionaire and donor heavyweight Stephen Bittel’s path to becoming Florida Democratic Party Chair became a little clearer Tuesday evening.
Bittel beat out former state Sen. Dwight Bullard for the job as the Miami-Dade Democratic Party state committeeman Tuesday evening in a heavily contested battle chock-full of controversy from grassroots activists across the state.
Miami-Dade Democrats began paving the way for Bittel earlier this month. Due to party rules, Bittel was forced to seek the committeeman position in order to run for FDP chair.
Bittel took 250 votes to Bullard’s 161 votes in a crowded field of eight contenders, including Bullard, for the race.
Bullard was not present for the election since he was on a cruise with his family.
Tuesday’s victory was not entirely harmonious and did not come without backlash.
Pro-Bullard protesters gathered in the Wynwood warehouse waving signs criticizing Bittel for his close relationship with former Democratic National Committee chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Wasserman Schultz resigned her DNC position after a WikiLeaks email scandal this August which unveiled thousands of emails casting doubt over her neutrality as DNC chair.
Democrats widely say Wasserman Schultz unfairly meddled in the Democratic primary, favoring Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders -- a big "no-no" for a DNC chair.
Bullard’s supporters attempted to delay Tuesday's election, saying local party leaders had illegally worked to hoist Bittel into the position. Sunshine State News reported earlier this month that many local Democrats bent over backwards to make way for Bittel’s rise to power.
Grassroots Democrats say their party really needs a change if it is going to get back on the winning track any time soon. This year, Dems experienced widespread defeat in what many viewed as a political failure of epic proportions, especially in Florida where neither Clinton nor many Democrats came out on top in their respective races.
National politicians eyed the Miami-Dade race closely. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ political organization threw its weight behind Bullard, putting out a call for Miami-Dade Dems to vote for Bullard instead of Bittel.
Sanders called Bullard “the Bernie delegate” and slammed Bittel as an “extremely wealthy” donor who wanted to buy his way into the job.
Since Bullard was absent from the election, his friend Denzel Burnside III spoke on his behalf, saying it was unfortunate the way Dems handled with behind-the-scenes interference and backroom deals.
“Unfortunately, there was a lot of things that happened behind closed doors. We’ll just leave it at that,” Burnside told the Miami Herald.
The intrigue didn't stop there. Bittel will now run against Alan Clendenin, whose hopes of becoming FDP chair seemed to be extinguished two weeks ago after he lost a re-election bid for Hillsborough County state committeeman.
Clendenin didn’t let the fire go out so quickly, nor did he let the loss stand in the way of his ambitions, though. In a last-ditch effort to keep his name in the mix, Clendenin reportedly moved into a trailer in Bradford County to win a chair position there. With that job under his belt, he is now is back in the running to be head honcho at the FDP.
The FDP chair election will take place in January.
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