Broward lawmakers elect new leaders

After some Republican vs. Democratic back and forth, Broward’s senators and representatives have new delegation leaders for the next year.

State Rep. Michael Gottlieb was elected chairman of the Broward Legislative Delegation in advance of upcoming committee meeting weeks in Tallahassee and the 2022 session.

Gottlieb, a Democrat, was first elected to the Florida House in 2018 representing a district that includes parts of Sunrise, Plantation, Davie, Southwest Ranches and Weston.

Gottlieb is a criminal defense lawyer.

The senators and representatives whose districts include all or parts of Broward also elected state Rep. Patricia Williams as delegation vice chairwoman. She’s a Democrat representing parts of eight cities in north-central Broward from Fort Lauderdale to Deerfield Beach.

It will be the first time since Williams was elected to the Legislature in 2016 that the delegation has had a female leader. The delegation currently has 11 men and eight women.

The person elected to the No. 2 job is usually elevated to chairman the following year.

There was some discord when the legislators gathered Wednesday evening at Junior Achievement of South Florida in Coconut Creek.

State Rep. Chip LaMarca, R-Lighthouse Point, objected to the pattern of delegation leadership selections because Democrats are the only ones who get picked to fill the roles.

He ended up voting for both Gottlieb and Williams.

But he suggested a new delegation rule that would require that the job alternate between a Democrat and a non-Democrat, which is what he said the Palm Beach County delegation does.

LaMarca is the only Republican who would be eligible for the non-Democratic spot. The full Broward delegation, which includes some districts that have parts of Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties, is 16 Democrats and three Republicans. LaMarca and state Rep. Tom Fabricio of Miramar are the only two Republicans who live in Broward, but Fabricio isn’t eligible because most of his district is in Miami-Dade County.

State Sen. Perry Thurston, who was chairman until Gottlieb was elected, referred the matter to the Rules Committee, though he also said he wasn’t even sure if the delegation actually has such a committee.

Gottlieb said later he was “committed” to working with LaMarca on the issue.

L a M a r c a w a s n ’ t convinced. “This looks like what it is,” he said.