Charlie Crist names Annette Taddeo as running mate

It had to be a Hispanic.

Everyone has been whispering that Miami-Dade Democratic Party Chairwoman Annette Taddeo Goldstein, who has been active supporting candidates but also on local county issues like taxpayer funded sports stadiums and the proposed cutting of library services by a mayor she said was stadium obsessed, was setting herself up to run for local office, like maybe a run against Miami-Dade’s Carlos “Cry Wolf” Gimenez in 2016.

But she got tapped for another position Thursday: Lieutenant Governor.

Gov. Charlie Crist picked Taddeo as his running mate in the race to regain the Governor’s Mansion this November. He made the announcement Thursday morning at LAB Miami in the Wynwood art district.

It seems like a no-brainer that Dem activists and political observers immediately said was smart. Not just because Crist needs South Florida, which Ladra thinks he’s pretty much got already, but because he needs Hispanics, a voter bloc that Florida Gov. Rick Scott is pursuing heavily (more on that later).

Scott already named a Hispanic LG to replace Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll, who resigned under a cloud when a corporation she represented was embroiled in an internet gambling investigation. Former State Rep. and Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser Carlos “C-Lo” Lopez-Cantera joined Scott’s administration in January.

Some characterized that move as a Scott campaign effort to pander to Hispanics. Shortly after, Scott accompanied C-Lo and Sen. Marco Rubio to an event in Doral to support the protests in Venezuela against the increasingly tyrannical government. Hispanics do account for about 15% of the electorate in the state. Will this choice of a Colombian-American as running mate for Crist be met with the same perception?

Ladra, for one, would like to see a debate between the two LGs.

Taddeo ran for Congress in 2008 against U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and lost. She also ran for county commission in District 8, but lost in the primary coming in third behind former Homestead Mayor Lynda Bell and former Palmetto Bay Mayor Eugene Flinn.

She certainly has shined, however, in her new role as the pied piper of the Miami-Dade Dems, whose profile has been raised considerably in her time there. They’ve been more involved in phone banks for Democrats candidates here and abroad — working a phone bank in February for Alex Sink in a Tampa area race that the former Democratic gubernatorial candidate lost, and in October of last year for State Rep. Amanda Murphy, who did win an open seat vacated by the resignation of Mike Fasano.

The party also found Democrat challengers to all six incumbent House members running this year and another Dem candidate to run in an open seat vacated by State Rep. Eddy Gonzalez, who was termed out and is running for C-Lo’s old job.

And both the local party and Taddeo have been active voices on local issues like the proposed use of tourist taxes to fund improvements at the Miami Dolphins SunLife stadium, which is owned by billionaire Steve Ross.

But she also seemed to indicate just a few months ago that she wasn’t 100% sure that Crist could win the primary against former Sen. Nan Rich. Guess she’s changed her mind now.

“We have to get through our primary first to see who our nominee is,” Taddeo said in a telephone press conference call in May when asked if she was skeptical of Crist’s position on immigration, since he did not support reform when he was a Republican governor.

The reporter tried the question again. “What about Charlie Crist personally? He opposed it as governor. Do you trust him now, that he is sincere in this position?”

“I am very glad that he is supporting it now and I do trust him,” Taddeo said. “I trust that he has been able to come to the Democratic side and has supported a lot of things, like Obamacare.”

When asked what Crist was doing to court that Hispanic vote, Taddeo claimed ignorance claimed ignorance back then: “I think you’re going to have to ask Charlie that question,” she said.

Well, I think we know what the answer is now.

Annette Taddeo, Charlie Crist, Rick Scott

Charlie Crist names Annette Taddeo as running mate added by Ladra on July 17, 2014
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