Dade Democrats decry lack of support

[Mika]

Dade Democrats decry lack of support
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami_dade/story/453146.html

Two influential congressional Democrats from South Florida are coming under fire from Miami-Dade Democrats for sitting on the sidelines as the party seeks to oust three Republican incumbents.

Miami-Dade party members meeting late Monday to elect a new leader said they were dismayed that Democratic Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Weston and Kendrick Meek of Miami have decided not to publicly support the Democratic challengers.

''I was appalled when I saw certain elected officials think they have the right to anoint who can run,'' Bret Berlin said as he was elected chairman of the county party. ``That's not their job, it's our job.''

His words echoed those of North Miami Mayor Kevin Burns, who also ran for county party chairman. He told the crowd at the meeting that he couldn't ``believe two of our elected Congress members have the nerve to stand up and say they won't support three local Democratic candidates.''

The criticism came in the wake of a Miami Herald report that detailed how Wasserman Schultz and Meek said they would be sitting the races out because of long-standing personal and professional ties to GOP incumbent Reps. Lincoln and Mario Diaz-Balart and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.

County Democrats say they may have their best shot in years to unseat at least one of the three, and after winning the county party's election, Berlin immediately moved to ``pledge support behind the three Democratic candidates.''

The more than 100 party executive committee members who assembled at the American Legion Hall in Miami unanimously agreed.

The three Democratic challengers are former Hialeah Mayor Raul Martinez, who has filed to run against Lincoln Diaz-Balart, former county party Chairman Joe Garcia, who is challenging Mario Diaz-Balart, and Annette Taddeo, who is taking on Ros-Lehtinen.

Wasserman Schultz, who for the second year in a row has been tapped by national Democrats to raise money and mentor top candidates for the national Democratic Party's Red to Blue program, declined to comment Tuesday. She previously said she has told the party that another member of Congress should coordinate the local races if any of the Democrats make the cut because she couldn't give it 100 percent.

The national party has said it's ''very excited'' about the races, and Jennifer Crider, communications director at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said the party has made similar arrangements when other members of Congress have conflicts.

''It doesn't change our level of commitment in any way or diminish it,'' Crider said. ``Members have to do their own politics as well. We completely understand they need to do what's best for them and their constituents.''

A spokesman for Meek called his Democratic Party credentials ``unassailable.''

Taddeo said she was ''disappointed'' by Wasserman Schultz's remarks, but said her campaign against Ros-Lehtinen was about issues.

''I think, if anything, her remarks have energized our base, and I've found the support of even more people,'' Taddeo said.

Miami Herald staff writer Lesley Clark in Washington contributed to this report.

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