It seems strange, and a little vexing, to hear so few Democrats lamenting the impending loss of so many spectacular women in their caucus -- some of the Florida Legislature's most significant figures.
I wonder if they really understand how much their landscape will change after November, that in the blink of an eye, the caucus will go from three- to one-dimensional.
Let's start with South Florida Sens. Maria Sachs and Gwen Margolis, from Delray Beach and Miami Beach respectively. Both are turning out the lights in November. Collectively, more than five decades of public service experience walking away.
And not a peep from any left-leaning women's group.
And do you know what did them in? Their own party's redistricting shenanigans. They were Fair-Districted into desperation. You can pile Sachs and Margolis on the pyre of League of Women Voters' lawsuit victims.
Where was the Democrats' commitment to women during their surrogates' heavy-handed maneuvering and funny business?
Frankly, it isn't their service in Tallahassee that makes Sachs and Margolis so valuable. I don't care if you don't like a single bill they ever introduced or a single position they ever held. They are irreplaceable for their savvy and the experience that comes from so much life lived -- in real time, with real meaning.
You can argue there are other women running to replace them. But none will have the firepower and gravitas of Sachs and Margolis for a very long time, if ever. I don't have to be a Democrat to admit Floridians will be shortchanged because these two aren't at the table when decisions are being made.
Look at Sachs. What a life she's had. As a young woman, she traveled to Southeast Asia, volunteered at the Malaria Control Center in upcountry Thailand while her father served in Vietnam and was gone for months at a time. And she worked as a nurse assistant at the Air Force military hospital. She returned to the States to pursue her law degree at the University of Miami, which really, was only the beginning of hugely rich, Florida years.
In the Senate, Sachs, 67, has an arresting demeanor -- classy, charming, always the peacemaker, and if you know anything at all about her life -- even if you don't -- you can see how much she brings every time she enters a room.
No more redistricting hassles for Sachs. She's done. She's writing a new chapter in her life, forming a nonprofit organization called the Coalition Against Human Trafficking. A huge loss to her caucus.
Margolis, 81, has already achieved so much of note, she's in the State Library & Archives. From 1990-1992, when Democrats dominated the Legislature, not only was she the first woman president of the Florida Senate, she was the first woman president of any state senate in the nation. And she brings something not another lawmaker in Tallahassee has -- a memory of every bump in the road while the fastest-growing state in the nation was coming of age. Replace that.
Sure, Margolis misspoke at the last stop on her campaign trail, she regretted it and when she couldn't walk it back, announced her retirement. But stepping away from her condo base into a new district had to have been a difficult and frustrating experience to such a seasoned campaigner. I don't think the Democratic caucus will realize how missed Margolis is until she's not there anymore.
Look at the whole list of departures among women in the Senate alone: Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa, and Eleanor Sobel, D-Hollywood, will be lost to term limits; Geraldine Thompson, D-Orlando, will run for Congress. I repeat: It's alarming how much quality is leaving the Democratic caucus.
Sobel has an amazing record on health care and educational opportunities for the learning disabled; Joyner and Thompson, both with a history of leadership in the caucus, were a part of the struggle for civil rights from the beginning. Joyner, incidentally, was the first female African-American attorney in Polk and Hillsborough counties. Tell me how easy it was to walk in those shoes.
Democrats should be asking themselves how they managed to stand idly by and let the lights go out on such a powerhouse -- particularly the two who lost their districts. The Florida Senate in particular won't be the same without the perspective of all these special women.
Reach Nancy Smith at nsmith@sunshinestatenews.com or at 228-282-2423. Twitter: @NancyLBSmith
