If Florida Democrats are serious about winning, they better get serious about the Latino vote | Opinion

Now that the predictable bi-annual Democratic hand-wringing has died down, I can say that Florida’s results in the presidential election were no surprise. I was laying bets in September that President Trump would carry the state. As good as President-elect Joe Biden’s campaign was in every other aspect, his ignoring the Latino vote in South Florida was a debacle for him and down-ballot Democratic candidates.

Make no mistake though, this was not just a Biden problem. Democratic treatment of Hispanic voters is a systemic problem that merely has produced occasional successes masking repeated failures.

A little historical context is needed. When I was elected chairman of the Dade Democratic Party in 1974, the very first thing we did was move party headquarters to the heart of Little Havana. We were planting the flag and saying, “We are here to stay.” We weren’t geniuses. We just looked at the numbers and recognized the inexorable influence of the Hispanic demographic.

Believe it or not, in the mid- to late ‘70s, half the Cuban Americans were registered Democrats. We actively recruited Hispanics to run for office and a Cuban American, Alfredo Duran, was elected chairman of the Florida Democratic Party. Sadly our candidates for public offices were uniformly defeated in the Democratic primaries, except for Lincoln Diaz- Balart, who lost in the general election. Yes, former Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart was a Democrat. The roof caved in for Democrats with the Mariel boatlift and Jeb Bush’s leadership of the Republican Party.

The only flag-waving at Democratic headquarters was a white one. The party effectively gave up on Hispanic voters.

The 1990s and the new century saw an influx of Central and South Americans, Puerto Ricans and Hispanic Caribbeans into Miami-Dade County. These newcomers should have provided fresh life to the Democratic Party in Miami. However, its commitment to Hispanic voters continued to be centered only around elections. Credit the Clintons with developing a special rapport with local Hispanics that climaxed with Hillary Clinton overwhelmingly winning Miami-Dade County in 2016. Her sizable victory helped carry Donna Shalala and Debbie Mucarsel-Powell to Congress in 2018.

But still the party’s commitment to Hispanics in Miami was only around election time. It was my hope that once Shalala and Mucarsel-Powell were re-elected this year, they would commit, with new county Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, to build the party institutionally.

However, President Trump courted Hispanic voters for four solid years and, as we saw, it paid huge dividends in 2020. There is a tendency to blame the party structure for the repeated electoral calamities in Florida, which include losing races for a U.S senator and governor in 2018. But I don’t buy it. Until elected Democrats and large donors turn their commitments to strengthening the party we will continue to lose.

Dark money PACS are a proven failure. They promote cronyism and only make incompetent Democratic consultants wealthy. We need to institutionalize party efforts in a way that allows continuous organizing, mentoring and fund-raising that reflects serious understanding and empathy for the diversity of communities that make up Miami-Dade County. Otherwise Hispanics and other ethnic groups will continue to disappoint Democrats on Election Day.

With Terrie Rizzo stepping down as chair of the Florida Democratic Party, the party needs the kind of leadership that will enjoy the confidence of donors, respect the existing party structure, have credibility with the remaining — and diminishing — elected Democrats and have the energy to build a 21st century organization. We need someone with a proven vision who will not just use the party platform for personal political gain. That person needs to develop a plan with competent advisors that relies on the long game.

Remarkably, there may be such a person interested in this daunting task. Back in the 1970s, when we were attempting to build a party, one of our young members was bringing his child to meetings — a child who would grow up to coach the University of Miami Hurricanes. The father saw first-hand how to build a grassroots organization and, later on, became a visionary mayor of the city of Miami.

Former Mayor Manny Diaz is willing and talented enough to build a Democratic Party that can lead us out of the wilderness. We should grab him for this thankless job.

Mike Abrams is former chairman of the Dade Democratic Party and a former state legislator. He is a policy adviser to Ballard Partners.