Miami-Dade Democrats can put a third notch on their campaign belt after Tuesday’s win in Miami Beach by Micky Steinberg.
Not really a political newcomer as the wife of former State Rep. Richard “Sext Me” Steinberg, who was forced to resign after he was accused of stalking a woman via inappropriate text messages — Micky Steinberg was seen by many as the Johnny Come Lately underdog against a longtime city activist supported by community groups and the police union.
But, like newly elected Homestead Mayor Jeff Porter before her and Amanda Murphy, in Florida House District 36 before that, Steinberg had the Miami-Dade Dems and their growing political machine when she won Tuesday with 53 percent of the vote.
Miami-Dade Democratic Party Chairwoman Annette Taddeo told Ladra that they were very proud of the work they did on the ground in the last two weeks between the primary and the runoff.
“People are definitely noticing that there is a new Miami-Dade Dems in town. And field, field, field rules,” Taddeo said, referring to the ground game that they apparently tuned in the 2012 presidential election.
“We’re very good at it and we are happily getting better at it,” she said, giddy from the victory party where Steinberg thanked the Miami-Dade Dems for their work, saying she would not be up there without them.
But not only did local volunteers hit the phones and the streets to tell voters exactly who was blue and who was red, at least one mailer went out targeting Urquiza for her party color.
“Elsa Urquiza is a registered REPUBLICAN,” it screamed, as if it was the end of the world, as if it were the same as being a registered pedophile. The mailer has a red Ghost Busters universal “no” sign superimposed on Urquiza’s mug and quotes Taddeo: “We have had enough of Republicans running our governments at the national, state or local level.”
But that was paid for by Common Sense, a PAC out of Tallahassee (not the county mayor’s similar sounding PAC) which is linked to Democratic activist and political consultant Christian Ulvert, who just happened to have helped Mayor Elect Philip Levine win his race, too, and was recently named Political Director at the Florida Democratic Party, which is a new position.
While it is illegal for any candidate in a non-partisan race to bring up party affiliation, it was not Steinberg who did that, Taddeo notes. It was the party and the independent PAC, which smells of the party. And they can avail themselves of a loophole that allows them to push party in non-partisan races.
And while some may question or raise a concern about partisan politics filtering into local government — Miami Beach activist and Levine lover Rick Kendle is asking on twitter whether the state should investigate — Taddeo is unapologetic about getting involved at the micro local level. And she promises more of it.
“We’re only too happy to let people know who is a Democrat and who is not,” Taddeo said. “We’re not running away from our principles, and neither should they.”
So, who’s next in the field of local Dems they want to elect in non-partisan races?
“Well, we definitely have an eye on Lynda Bell,” Taddeo said about the county commission vice chair.
Miami-Dade Dems score another win in non-partisan race added by Ladra on
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