In his resignation announcement Tuesday, a prominent Miami-Dade Democrat demanded county chairman Sen. Shevrin Jones and state Chairwoman Nikki Fried resign after the Election Night "bloodbath" seemingly sounded the death knell of the Florida Democrats.
Billy Corben, a popular Democrat and filmmaker, also announced that he will register as an NPA because Chair Fried and Miami-Dade County Chair Jones perpetuate "dysfunction" that will continue for the "foreseeable future."
"It is my sincere hope, if you have a modicum of pride or shame after last week's electoral bloodbath, you will resign from your positions as well," Corben said. "It’s obvious to me now why the Democrats have been a virtual nonentity in Florida for a quarter century and lost so much ground in Miami-Dade."
Although Corben is a well-known critic of Democratic politics and county functions, his departure from the county's Democratic Executive Committee (DEC) and the party itself could reflect other Democrats' attitudes and growing apathy toward party leadership after nearly all candidates in close races were served with an absolute beatdown. Only House District 45 flipped to blue, and that was due to the Republican incumbent being indicted for forgery. She lost by less than two percentage points.
Sen. Jones told The Floridian that while he's unsure if Corben is a bellwether for voters' disinterest and even anger toward the party, he does know that change needs to happen:
"Regarding whether more Democrats will follow suit, I’m unsure. However, it’s clear that there is significant work and rebuilding that must be done at the local, state, and national levels of the party," he said, adding that he "never planned" to serve as Chair past December when the office goes up for election.
"The DEC needs someone who can dedicate the necessary time to not only build internal infrastructure but also foster engagement with voters during the off years," Jones said, acknowledging that will be difficult for him to accomplish as a state Senator with the 2025 session rapidly approaching.
In his open letter to Jones and Fried, Corben provided what he called a "non-exhaustive list" of Florida Democrats' disastrous losses last Tuesday, including state Republicans gaining one more legislative seat in the House despite Democrats promising to take back at least five; Miami-Dade County voting for a GOP presidential candidate for the first time since 1988; and over 1.2 million more registered Republicans than Democrats voting (even though there are just under 1.1 million more registered Republicans than Democrats).
The grievances continued, with Corben blaming Fried's "malfeasance and malpractice" as the reason for Florida Democrats' sound beating by the Republicans. He denounced her "big lie" that Florida was in play, blasted her removal of the Miami-Dade Chair and appointment of Jones in his stead with no "vision or plan," slammed the scheduling of DEC meetings on Jewish holidays despite Fried's acknowledgment that Democrats are losing Jewish voters, and jabbed at the allowance of member Oliver Gilbert to co-chair the party's Blue Gala (or "Loser Prom," as Corben calls it) after he endorsed an embattled Republican in a contested state House race.
As for Corben?
"The Florida and Miami-Dade Democrats have been hijacked and held hostage by a consultant cartel and complicit leadership who exploit the hard work of dedicated members and volunteers to destroy the party for your own power and profit," he wrote.
With a bloodred Miami-Dade County and an even greater Republican state House supermajority, things look grim for Florida Democrats. Fried's team did not respond to a request for comment.
