Miami-Dade Democrats elect a new leader during chaotic virtual meeting
Robert Dempster, who had run unsuccessfully to be mayor of North Miami Beach in 2018, was elected as the new chair of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party in a messy Tuesday night meeting, nearly a month after the former volunteer head of the chapter announced his resignation.
Dempster, who is originally from Jamaica, received 92 votes, or 58%, to defeat his opponent Natascha Otero Santiago during a chaotic two-hour-long Zoom gathering, where attendees struggled to agree on how to best cast their ballots and held several different rounds of votes through the platform’s poll tool. Dempster said he is “between jobs at the moment” and was last employed at AT&T and was a union steward for Communication Workers of America.
Otero Santiago received 42% support, or 66 of the votes. Dempster will now lead Democrats’ outreach efforts in Miami-Dade in municipal, local, state and federal elections.
“We have a ton of work to do, and I know that all of us together can do it,” said Dempster after results were read. “Whatever wing of the party you belong to, you will always have a seat at this table, as long as I’m the chair.”
During the virtual election, after some attendees claimed there were eligible members who had not been allowed to vote, first Vice Chair Maria Elena Lopez authorized a second vote. But due to a few members opposed to the virtual voting, there was a motion introduced to hold a “roll call” vote, where members would say out loud one by one which candidate they were voting for.
Lopez then held a third vote, this time to determine whether there should be a debate on a roll call vote or not. But that vote caused some confusion, too, about which result would trigger which decision, so it was held a second time, too. The roll call option was overwhelmingly rejected.
The four rounds of votes that took about an hour to conclude angered many participants, including South Florida Rep. Joseph Geller, who questioned why the second results were not read out.
“What are people afraid of? Let’s see how we voted, I want to see how we voted!” said Geller, as members discussed the possibility of a third vote to elect the new chair. Another member said, “Why should everyone have to sit here when some people were late,” in opposition to the proposal to include everyone who was eligible.
The results of the second Zoom poll vote were ultimately read and authorized. A total of 153 people voted.
Allison Sardinas was elected as vice chair of programs.
Former Miami-Dade Democrats Chair Steve Simeonidis said in a statement that Dempster was an “amazing leader, deserving of this position and there is no doubt in my mind that he will help our local party succeed.”
Despite electing Daniella Levine Cava as Miami-Dade County mayor, Democrats faced blistering losses locally during the 2020 election, as former President Donald Trump made inroads in the Hispanic community, and Republicans pulled off notable upsets in two Democratic-leaning congressional seats. One campaign manager for a Democratic candidate described the losses at the time as a “bloodbath.”
In a statement announcing his resignation on July 19, Simeonidis said the local party needed a “full time, elected leader.”
“The largest local party in the biggest swing state in the nation should not be led over lunch, after work and on weekends,” he said at the time.
This story was originally published August 17, 2021 at 8:52 PM.
