Leader of the Miami-Dade Democrats is suspended by Florida party chairwoman
With elections for local, state and federal posts just months away, Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Nikki Fried is suspending the head of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party, according to party officials.
On Monday, Fried called Robert Dempster, who’s helmed the county party since 2021, to ask for his resignation. Dempster declined to step down, according to party officials, prompting Fried to suspend him.
The decision on Monday came just over a month after Florida Democratic Party officials sent a letter to Dempster notifying him that the MiamiDade party was out of compliance with the state party’s rules and bylaws.
“Due to ongoing and unresolved issues, and failure to comply with the rules that govern all local parties, the Florida Democratic Party has made the decision to suspend the Chair of the Miami-Dade [Democratic Party] and rebuild in 2024 — because the cost of inaction is too high,” Fried said in a statement to the Miami Herald.
She described the decision to suspend Dempster as “part of an overall strategy to get MiamiDade back on track” following a more-than-yearlong rough stretch that included a series of disappointing election results for Democrats in the county, as well as internal disputes over Dempster’s leadership.
Dempster’s suspension removes him from the chairmanship just eight months before the November elections, when a number of high-profile offices will be on the ballot, including the presidency. Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava is also facing reelection in August, while voters will decide a handful of county-wide offices, including sheriff and supervisor of elections, for the first time.
Dempster, reached Monday, said that there were no violations or issues that justified Fried’s decision to suspend him.
“I don’t think it comes anywhere near the bar of warranting a suspension,” Dempster told the Herald.
In January 2023, a group of Miami-Dade Democratic officials sent a letter to then-Florida Democratic Party Chairman Manny Diaz calling for Dempster’s resignation over the alleged misuse of campaign funds and what they described as amateurish party leadership.
Dempster disputed those allegations at the time, and said that there were good-faith efforts being made to correct any bookkeeping errors in the party’s finances.
After Fried took over as the Florida Democratic Party’s chair in February of last year, she dispatched a team to Miami to look into the county party’s affairs. Multiple people familiar with that effort said Dempster repeatedly refused to cooperate with the state party’s evaluation efforts.
The Florida Democratic Party sent a letter to Dempster on Feb. 1 giving him one month to rectify its alleged compliance issues.
State party officials said that as of March 1, those issues had not been resolved.
Dempster told the Herald on Monday that he had received a letter notifying him of his suspension, but had not had a chance to read it in its entirety. He said the suspension was based on a party rule that prevents county parties from endorsing candidates unless 90% of the party’s district committee positions are filled.
He said the Florida Democratic Party also raised concerns about several county party members who might no longer live in Miami-Dade County. Dempster said the county party had recently reinstated its membership committee and has begun cleaning up its membership rolls.
He said he believes his suspension was unwarranted. “From the best that I can tell, this is the first time that this relatively obscure rule is being enforced,” he said.
Dempster’s fate will be decided by the state Democratic Party’s central committee, which will vote at its next meeting on whether to permanently remove him from his post. Removing a party chair requires a two-thirds vote by the 120-member committee.
Exactly when that vote will take place is unclear. The central committee’s next meeting has not yet been scheduled. Maria Elena López, the MiamiDade Democratic Party’s first vice chair, will take over the chairmanship in the meantime.
Dempster said he believes he’ll regain the post after the central committee meets.
“I’m pretty confident I’ll be reinstated,” he said.