If Democrats don’t even show up, what’s the point?

TALLAHASSEE — Florida is in serious trouble. The last line of defense against the extremism of Gov. Ron DeSantis are the 16 Democrats in the state Senate. But it’s a caucus in chaos, and at the worst possible time.

When Senate Democrats are in disarray and bickering with each other — when they bother to show up, that is — everything is so much easier for Republicans and harder for the people of Florida. The just-ended special legislative session on DeSantis’ anti-vaccine agenda provided the latest display of Democratic ineptitude.

Sen. Lauren Book, D-Plantation, took charge of the caucus in April after Democrats ousted her predecessor, Sen. Gary Farmer, D-Lighthouse Point, and she vowed things would change.

“It’s time to have a united caucus,” Book said, with redistricting and an election-year session on the horizon.

Seven months later, the caucus still doesn’t have its act together, and Democrats just blew a golden opportunity to derail DeSantis’ dangerous agenda.

Senators were called to a caucus meeting just before decisive floor votes Wednesday on four pro-DeSantis bills, including a sweeping new exemption to the public records law to keep employee complaints secret. The First Amendment Foundation called it overbroad, ill-conceived and likely unconstitutional. The choice was to side with DeSantis or support the First Amendment. It’s an easy call.

A plan was hatched to take a united caucus position against the bill (HB 3B). All 16 votes were enough to defeat it if they stuck together, because passage of a public records exemption requires a two-thirds super-majority (27 of 40 votes). Farmer pushed the idea on the theory that it would put Florida in violation of federal laws protecting confidentiality of personal health information.

The strategy was obviously disruptive, but killing a bill would reaffirm Democrats’ belief in transparency, slow DeSantis’ runaway anti-vax train and make Democrats relevant for once. Even the threat of a caucus position can be effective leverage to extract concessions from Republicans, but only if Democrats are united and willing to fight.

When it came time to decide, nearly half of caucus members didn’t show up. Nine were there, and one, Sen. Darryl Rouson of St. Petersburg, left. But it didn’t matter because Book backed new caucus rules that required a two-thirds vote to take a caucus position.

Besides Book, the absentees were Sens. Loranne Ausley, Randolph Bracy, Janet Cruz, Tina Polsky, Linda Stewart and Annette Taddeo. Farmer remains a polarizing caucus figure, but when the minority party’s only path is to disrupt, Democrats need to act. They didn’t, and what little relevance they had in this slam-dunk session slipped away as their absences blocked a caucus position.

“It’s sad,” said Sen. Audrey Gibson, D-Jacksonville, looking at the empty chairs. “I guess some people are not interested.”

Sen. Perry Thurston, D-Plantation, anticipating trouble, urged colleagues “not to walk away from this vote.” But that’s what happened, as four Democrats did not vote: Book, Ausley, Randolph Bracy of Orlando and Bobby Powell of West Palm Beach.

Ausley had an excused absence. Bracy and Powell were on the floor, failed to vote and abandoned their constituents. That’s a dereliction of duty. Every time a Democrat “takes a walk,” it enables Republicans.

Two other Democrats, Rouson and Stewart, of Orlando, voted for the secrecy bill as it passed 26-10. Stewart told The Orlando Sentinel she was lobbied on the bill by Disney and FP&L, among others. She voted the wrong way, but at least she showed up.

Book, who also missed floor votes, was out of sight, and sources said she was the target of a cyber threat being pursued by the FBI. An FBI spokeswoman declined to confirm an investigation. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Senate president’s office declined to comment.

For Senate Democrats, the refusal to play rough with Republicans feeds the dissident narrative that Book and her allies are cowed by the GOP and beholden to big-money donors.

Wednesday’s meltdown wasn’t the first time Senate Democrats discussed DeSantis’ anti-vaccine tactics. They met Tuesday afternoon but didn’t notify the media or the public. That closed-door session ran afoul of Senate rules requiring that legislative discussions between more than two senators “shall be open to the public,” including “political caucuses.”

Ten senators attended the prearranged meeting called by Book’s staff. A person with direct knowledge said the specific bills were listed on a whiteboard. Farmer called for a united stand against employee and employer secrecy. Sen. Victor Torres, D-Orlando, backed him.

“Gary’s right,” Torres said. “We can kill it.” Another senator warned that the meeting was not noticed. Book refused to recognize Farmer. Talk then returned to the four pending bills — in private.

“There was no discussion about views or stances regarding pending legislation,” said Book’s spokeswoman, Cathy Schroeder. She confirmed that she refused to let Tampa Bay Times reporter Lawrence Mower attend the meeting, and called it “a huge oversight on my part.”

Senators meeting in secret, skipping a caucus, refusing to vote — we expected better from Book. But the caucus is a microcosm of what’s wrong with the Florida Democratic Party. It’s a lack of unity, excessive infighting and too many people out for themselves, not the greater good, in the face of an unprecedented power grab by a Republican governor.

Never has Florida more urgently needed a stronger, more relevant two-party system. Thanks for nothing, Senate Democrats.