‘What was she thinking?’ Florida Democratic Party blasted — and praised — for suspending Palm Beach County party chair

The dramatic move by state Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried to suspend three of the state’s county Democratic chairs, including Mindy Koch in Palm Beach County, has generated an angry reaction from some local veteran party activists — and some high-level praise of Fried taking decisive action.

The dramatic move by state Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried to suspend three of the state’s county Democratic chairs, including Mindy Koch in Palm Beach County, has generated an angry reaction from some local veteran party activists — and some high-level praise of Fried for taking decisive action.

The tone of the criticism and the nature of the support illustrate the stakes for a party that is attempting to rebuild itself.

Also clear: the divisions and infighting Fried said she was acting to staunch have continued to flow.

Turmoil continues in the Palm Beach County Democratic Party with just eight months until critical elections. And that could affect the ability of Democrats to effectively compete in November as they attempt to win back control of the Palm Beach County Commission and regain recent losses in state legislative districts.

Feelings are so raw, that one faction in the Palm Beach County party said the opposing faction was operating like a left-wing MAGA movement, an exceedingly unflattering comparison to the style and tactics of former President Donald Trump’s Make America Great Again supporters.

Chair’s action

On Monday, Fried announced she had suspended Koch, plus the chairs in Miami-Dade and Franklin counties, effective immediately.

“This is part of a year-long effort to get the Palm Beach County party back on track,”  said Eden Giagnorio, the state party’s communications director.

“The Palm Beach Democrats have failed to meet their basic obligations that govern all (county parties) so we’re not going to continue to make the same mistakes over and over again. Palm Beach is too important,” she said.

The letter from Fried to Koch notifying her of the suspension said the county party was “out of compliance with party rules.” It faulted her for, among other things, not adequate addressing “reported conflicts between the membership and leadership,” and stated that an “inability to find compromise within your membership have altogether created an environment that prohibits the (county party) from being compliant and successful.”

Fried criticized

Democratic allies of Koch were enraged by Fried’s move.

“Nikki’s action was misplaced during a very important presidential election, when the party needs unity, not division. I was disappointed that Nikki did not consider that point when she made her decision. What was she thinking?” longtime Democratic activist Ira Raab said via email.

Raab is a former co-chair of the state Democratic Party’s Rules Commission, was the county party’s parliamentarian for 10 years, and is a retired judge from New York.

He isn’t alone.

Allies of Koch have been calling, texting and emailing Fried since she announced Monday she was removing Koch.

On Wednesday afternoon, they sent Fried a scorching letter urging her to reconsider her action, asserting that “your decision may be the result of miscommunication.”

“Chair Koch has been subjected to vile personal attacks,” the letter said. “The MAGA-left has mounted vicious personal attacks not only on Chair Koch but also on other (Democratic party) leaders supporting her…. The abuse includes public Facebook attacks, vile and outrageous personal attacks, gutter language attack emails and personal intimidation, emails shared widely with numerous people to defame the targeted person as much as possible, and face-to-face nastiness unbecoming for professional adults.”

The letter asserted an opposition group within the party acted to disrupt operations. “All have refused numerous calls to unify, including from you, and instead have chosen to obstruct, obstruct, obstruct,” the letter said.

It was signed by 15 longtime party leaders including the county party treasurer and recording secretary, multiple committee chairs, as well as people who have led caucuses and run and held public office.

“These MAGA-left organizers have unfortunately borrowed a page from the MAGA-right and utilized the same nastiness against our own Democratic leaders. The MAGA playbook is to refuse to recognize a legitimate election; obstruct that leader’s efforts to unify at every turn; organize opposition to drive the elected leader out; and install their own leadership,” they wrote.

Giagnorio said state Democrats do not approve of personal attacks. “We condemn personal attacks. (But) this is not personal.” She also said Fried would not reconsider her decision.

Decision praised

Fried’s moves received some high-level support.

Jaime Harrison, chair of the Democratic National Committee, weighed in with approval within hours of Fried’s actions.

“@NikkiFried  is focused like a laser and is doing everything & whatever is necessary to help @FlaDems  #TakeBackFlorida,” Harrison wrote on the social media platform X.

U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz, a Democrat representing Broward and Palm Beach counties, also praised the Fried’s move.

“The state Democratic Party has been broken for a decade. We have been doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Nikki is trying something new,” Moskowitz said in a statement provided by his spokesperson. “Or we can continue to watch Republican governors get reelected by 19 points.”

He has an especially keen awareness of the issues confronting the Palm Beach County Democratic Party. In the 2022 election, in which Moskowitz won his first term in Congress, he lost the Palm Beach County part of the 23rd Congressional District, going to Washington on the strength of a stronger Democratic performance in the Broward part of his district.

Gov. Ron DeSantis, the Republican he was referring to, won the territory encompassed by the congressional district.

Koch wasn’t in charge of the party at the time; she was elected in December 2022 after the midterm elections.

State Sen. Tina Polsky also has a district that crosses county lines and won because of Broward Democrats.

She said via text that she didn’t have any comment on the suspension, but “I know there has been a lot of tumult so I hope things will straighten themselves out very quickly.”

A county political party can provide vital functions, registering voters and reaching out and keeping them engaged. If it’s doing well at those functions, it benefits all the party’s candidates, freeing up the people on the ballot to use their time and resources to reach out to even more potential voters. If not, it can give the other side an advantage.

Deep divisions

Until the party leadership elections in December 2022, Palm Beach County Democrats had been led for 10 years by Terrie Rizzo, who also served as state Democratic Party chair for part of that time.

When it came time to pick a successor, the county’s Democratic committeemen and committeewomen, who represent political precincts from throughout the county, were divided.

Koch, who received 160 votes, had been the previous vice chair of the county party.

Her opponent, Maria Cole, received 159 votes. Cole was at the time and still is the state Democratic committeewoman, which puts her in local party leadership.

Rolando Barrero, president of the Democratic Hispanic Caucus of Florida, said there was never a coming together after that election.

Barrero — who voted for Cole for party chair — said the continued division is “a power play from factions that have infiltrated the Democratic Party.”

“As soon as the election was over, I changed t-shirts, which is what I tell everybody we should be doing. You have a fair and democratic election, and you move on after the elections are done,” he said.  “I tell everybody during the primaries make sure you have two t-shirts, the one of the candidate that you want and the one of whoever may win just in case. And as soon as the numbers are tallied, you change shirts and you unify. Palm Beach (County Democrats) have a problem with that.”

After Koch won, Barrero said people from the side that lost the election for chair acted as an internal roadblock. “Nobody tried to work with her. What they keep finding as soon as an issue is resolved, they find another issue to derail her administration.”

Barrero said Fried was correct that the situation had gotten out of hand and something had to be done. “I am 100% upset that they have done this to Mindy, but I am 100% in accord with Nikki Fried that this can’t go on.”

Sean Rourk, the party vice chair who is now acting chair after Fried’s action, said it was prompted by the party breaking state rules under Koch. Rourk ran for vice chair along with Cole. he defeated Koch’s running mate for the No. 2 job by one vote – just like in the top race.

Asked if Fried did the right thing, he said, “I believe so.”

But he said he didn’t want to focus on Koch, Fried’s action, or the past. “My focus is on the upcoming municipal elections and general election,” he said, declining to address the question of whether it is a story of rule violations or a faction trying to undermine Koch. He said, however, that Koch could have done more to unify the party after she was elected.

Giagnorio acknowledged there is factionalism at play in the Palm Beach County party. “That’s exactly why something needs to change. The dysfunction needs to stop. We need to get our act together because 2024 is too critical.”

What next

It’s not entirely clear what happens now, and when.

The county parties are in the hands of the vice chairs, filling in for their suspended predecessors. But no one at the county or state level seems to have a precise handle on just how much authority the acting chairs have to conduct party business.

A state Democratic Party committee will meet to decide whether to uphold the suspensions. As of Thursday, Fried had not yet set a date for that gathering.

Rourk said he thinks it would be better to have the state act sooner rather than later, so local activists can concentrate fully on election-year work, regardless of who is in charge. If the suspensions are upheld, committeemen and committeewomen will elect a new party chair.

There’s also minor unresolved business. As of Thursday afternoon, some 72 hours after Fried’s action, the Palm Beach County Democratic Party’s website still had Koch’s picture and listed her as county party chair.

Anthony Man can be reached at aman@sunsentinel.com and can be found @browardpolitics on Bluesky, Threads, Facebook and Post.news.