MIAMI, FL—In the wake of an increasing Republican hold over Florida, Democratic Senator Shevrin Jones has decided to step in and run for the recently embattled, newly-vacant Miami-Dade County Chair seat after its last occupant was ousted for malpractice.
Last month, Robert Dempster was suspended and removed by Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried and the Democratic Executive Committee (DEC) for holding outdated membership lists, not reaching quorum, and failing to follow protocol in endorsing local candidates.
Now, Senator Shevrin Jones is ready to fill that spot.
Florida Democrats suffer from an almost 900,000 deficit in voter registrations compared to Republicans. Miami-Dade, a consistently blue county, went red in both the 2018 and 2022 Governor elections.
Jones, an educator, was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2012, and in 2018, was named the Deputy Democratic Leader. In 2020, he was voted into the Senate, representing the 34th district.
He has earned titles in Top 30 Under 30 Successful Black Men, Top 40 Under 40 Most Powerful in South Florida, participated in the President Obama College Promise Task Force, and been named Florida Young Democrat of the Year.
If elected chair, Jones could help quell race-related concerns from some Democrats who were angered when then the party ousted two black county chairs—including Miami-Dade's Robert Dempster—but kept an embattled white county chair in office.
The Democratic Party wholeheartedly denied these allegations.
In a further initiative to flip Florida blue, the Florida Democratic Party also announced Wednesday the hiring of a Coordinated Campaign Director, political strategist Lisa Peth.
Peth previously worked to flip Duval County blue in 2018 as the Northeast Florida Regional Field Director.
