Florida State Senator Shevrin Jones (D) is the new Miami-Dade County Democratic Party Chair. State Senator Jones entered the race after Robert Dempster, the former chair, was suspended and removed by Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Nikki Fried (D).
Like Chairwoman Fried, Chairman Jones is now tasked with the difficult move to expand Democratic influence in the state. Republicans are enjoying an advantage of more than 900,000 registered voters over the Democratic Party, and Chairman Jones is determined to help deliver Miami-Dade County to Democrats in November.
On social media, the newly-elected chairman shared that he looks forward to the opportunity to work with Democrats "to bring people together, boost engagement, close the voter registration gap, build our bench, and truly reinvigorate the party."
"What we do over the coming months will shape our communities for years to come. This moment presents great opportunity to reset, learn from past mistakes, lead with transparency, and lay the foundation for transformative wins," Chairman Jones added on X.
I am grateful to the @MiamiDadeDems members for entrusting me with this responsibility and look forward to working with this incredible team to bring people together, boost engagement, close the voter registration gap, build our bench, and truly reinvigorate the party.
What we… pic.twitter.com/LhA0hDkDh4
— Shevrin “Shev” Jones (@ShevrinJones) April 27, 2024
"Together, we'll leave no stone unturned to re-elect President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and County Mayor Levin Cava, and uplift our down-ballot candidates across the state."
Chairman Jones faced a challenger in Florida native Billy Corben, a documentary filmmaker and political commentator who looked to enter the race to reignite Miami-Dade County Democrats. However, this week, at the end of a Zoom forum featuring the candidates, Corben announced that he was withdrawing his candidacy.
Corben cited several reasons for his withdrawal, including disorder, favoritism within the party, and the fact that the election was not rescheduled from its 4/26 date so as not to conflict with Passover.
“I was prepared for the dysfunction, but I’m disappointed by the bad faith and hypocrisy. I mean, this meeting is being presided over by an acting Chair that has endorsed one of the candidates,” Corben said at the end of the forum.
“Perhaps I’ll revisit running for a full term in December. But for now, sadly, I am withdrawing my name from contention.”
