Undeterred by Gov. Ron DeSantis’ high public approval rating, a group of Democrats in Broward County is starting an effort to pressure the Republican governor.
In an email to Democratic Party leaders asking them to participate in an upcoming rally, organizer Michael Albetta said he wanted to sound the alarm “about the silent Giant that is in our State, Governor Ron DeSantis aka DeSatan.”
Organizers have two goals:
— Making it more difficult for President Donald Trump to win the 2020 election by engaging voters in the state’s most Democratic county.
— Fighting back against DeSantis’ use of his executive powers to remove elected officials shortly after he took office in January.
The governor suspended and replaced Broward Sheriff Scott Israel (alleging incompetence and neglect of duty in connection with the Parkland School massacre), Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher (accused of bungling recounts in the 2018 midterm elections) and Mary Beth Jackson, the elected school superintendent in Okaloosa County (criticized in two grand jury reports).
Nearing the three-month mark as governor, DeSantis is popular. A Florida Atlantic University poll released last week found 54 percent of voters approving of his performance with just 19 percent disapproving. Even among Democrats, the Republican governor has higher approval than disapproval.
But Karen P. Fortman said the Broward County Presidents’ Council of Democratic Clubs and Caucuses has concerns, recently voting to assert that people have a “right to vote for their officials and representatives without fear or threat of misuse of power to usurp the democratic process and to nullify the intent of the voters of Broward County.”
Fortman, who said by text message she is helping to organize the upcoming anti-DeSantis rally, is president of the presidents’ council and president of the Davie-Cooper City Democratic Club.
She served on the Broward School Board in the 1990s and said she is concerned that the governor “is threatening School Board members.”
Family members of some of the people killed in the Feb. 14, 2018, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre who have the governor’s ear have pushed him to take action against School District leadership. In February, the Florida Supreme Court approved DeSantis’ request for a statewide grand jury looking into school security, especially in Broward.
Cynthia Busch, chairwoman of the Broward Democratic Party, said she agrees with the sentiment that a governor needs to be scrutinized when he uses his power to suspend elected officials. But she said she isn’t certain that there’s a concrete plan of action besides holding a rally.
She also said calling the governor “DeSatan” isn’t a good idea. “It would not be the sort of language I would do.” Busch said Trump, as opposed to DeSantis, is a better way to motivate Democrats for 2020.
Busch said Monday afternoon she was not sure if she would attend the rally.
Multiple motives
A central organizer of the effort is Albetta, long active in the Broward Democratic Party. He is past president and currently a regional director of the Florida LGBTA Democratic Caucus and past president of Broward’s Dolphin Democrats political club.