Palm Beach woman to lead Florida Dems

The chairwoman of the Palm Beach County Democratic Party was selected Saturday by Florida Democrats to lead the party for the next three years.

Terrie Rizzo, 70, who lives just west of incorporated Boynton Beach, easily beat Brevard County Democratic Chairwoman Stacey Patel in an 830-291 vote by the party’s executive committee at the Rosen Centre Hotel.

Rizzo, who began her political career as a campaign volunteer a little more than a dozen years ago, won in a special election prompted by the sudden, November resignation of Stephen Bittel, a wealthy Miami-Dade County real estate developer. He resigned after Politico Florida reported he created a demeaning atmosphere and unprofessional work environment for women, including keeping a breast-shaped stress relief ball in his office.

She promises to be a different kind of chairwoman for the Florida Democrats; she’s never held elected office and isn’t wealthy or tied to lobbyists or donors who can write large political checks. “This is what the Democratic Party should be like, where people can start at the bottom and rise to the top,” Rizzo said in her acceptance speech.

She said she was “overwhelmed and very humbled” by her election.

Rizzo has been the chairwoman of the Palm Beach Democrats since 2012. In her acceptance speech, she said she began her journey in the state party as a volunteer on John Kerry’s presidential campaign in 2004. She later won election as precinct committeewoman and then as the county vice chairwoman, before becoming the leader of the Palm Beach Democrats shortly before the 2012 presidential election.