Two weeks after Nov. 6 and the Republican bloodletting, legislators in the 305 chose new leaders for the Miami-Dade Delegation this week — and the cards continue to fall from the divisive election.
State Rep. Eddy Gonzalez (R-Hialeah) and State Rep. Jose Felix “One More Pepe” Diaz (R-Kendall) defeated State Sen. Oscar Braynon II (D-Miami Gardens) and State Rep. Cynthia Stafford (D-Miami) to become chairman and vice chairman, respectively.
But Gonzalez didn’t get every Republican vote: Sen. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla cast his proxy for Braynon.
“He asked me first,” said the only Diaz de la Portilla to survive this election cycle (he ran unopposed). “In fact, Eddy didn’t even ask for my support,” Miguel DLP told Ladra.
Hmmmm. Can’t blame him. Gonzalez is part of the flying monkeys gang that helped thwart efforts by both of Miguel’s little brothers — former School Board Member Renier Diaz de la Portilla and former Florida Sen. Alex “The Dean” Diaz de la Portilla — to return to the house this year in districts 103 and 112, respectively. Yeah, they were more blatant in their support for new State Rep. Manny Diaz, Jr., against Baby DLP, but we all know they worked against letting The Dean back into the Tallahassee VIP halls, too.
Ladra wanted to believe that Miguel DLP was more loyal to his brothers than to his party — that kind of thing makes my heart sing. But like a good GOPper, the Senator said it had nothing to do with that. He said that he also supported his colleague because he feels that the chair and vice chair should represent both chambers.
And Ladra thinks that might even be in the bylaws, which could be waived but were ignored instead. You know how Miami-Dade lawmakers are are famous for law breaking.
But wait a mango-picking minute. It was a 13-10 vote at the FIU Law School Tuesday, with one of the 11 Dems — State Rep. Joe Gibbons (D-Hallandale) whose district crosses county lines — getting there minutes too late to participate. So if DLP voted for Braynon, then who from the other side voted for “Here Comes Hialeah” Gonzalez?
The proxy votes — which are identifiable by name while the in-person votes are not — show that State Rep. Daphne Campbell broke ranks and voted for Gonzalez.
Braynon was disappointed — especially since it almost went the other way. Had Campbell stuck to party lines and voted for the Senator, it would have been 12-11 and the delegation woud have waited for Gibbons to get there to cast his vote — which was for Braynon. Then the tie would have been broken by an in-person vote — and there were more Dems in the room than Republicans.
“It could have gone either way,” Braynon told Ladra. “I was hoping to lead the delegation.”
He was also hoping to give Miami-Dade some sorely-needed good political press by showing a bipartisan vote.
“One of the reasons for me running was that I’m a pretty bi-partisan guy,” Braynon told Ladra. “My goal was to show that Miami-Dade County was not about partisanship.”
What a blown opportunity.
He doesn’t know why Campbell voted against him and hasn’t spoken to her since Tuesday. But Braynon won’t challenge the vote on the technical by-law issue.
“If the will of the body is to have Eddy Gonzalez, than that is what we have,” he said, adding that he will work with Gonzalez to move the county’s agenda forward.
See? He would have made a fine leader.
Btw, the party lines were crossed en masse with the vote for vice chair, where “One More Pepe” Diaz retained his seat with a 17-6 vote.
Ceremonial delegation posts split NOT along party lines added by Ladra on
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