After two general elections with disappointing results at the top of the ticket and flashing red warning signs locally, the Broward Democratic Party is grappling with how to move forward and who should lead its efforts.
And that means a reprise of the leadership contest from four years ago.
Rick Hoye, the Broward Democratic Party chair since 2020, is seeking another term. He’s citing successes in fundraising and organizing efforts that he said contributed to success in county elections.
He is being challenged by Alfredo Olvera, the state Democratic committeeman for Broward, who unsuccessfully ran for chair four years ago.
Olvera warns that Democrats are on a trajectory that, without dramatic changes, is likely to produce future election losses.
“If we don’t change the game in Broward County, we’re going to have Republicans win,” Olvera said in a phone interview. “The margin for our elected officials … was too small for comfort.”
Olvera, 50, a Realtor from Fort Lauderdale, is a gay Hispanic immigrant.
“For too long, ineffective leadership has drained enthusiasm, diminished attendance, and concentrated decision-making power in the hands of a few,” Olvera wrote in an email to Democrats announcing his candidacy. “It’s time to expand our reach, particularly in communities where so many are not represented and listened to, and develop deeper connections with our constituents, precincts, and the voters we represent,” announcing his candidacy. Olvera wrote in an email to Democrats announcing his candidacy.
Hoye, 45, of Sunrise, is an African American eighth-grade U.S. history teacher with strong ties to organized labor. He is the first non-white chair elected to lead the Broward Democratic Party. (A Black interim chairwoman served briefly decades ago.)
He said he is exactly the kind of person the Democrats need talking to voters who are leaving or at risk of leaving the party in the Donald Trump era, especially those who feel ignored by the political world until an election is approaching.
“I am a working-class citizen,” he said in a phone interview. “The Democratic Party cannot win without talking to people like me….. I believe in year-round engagement. I believe I speak the language of the Democratic constituency, especially coming from a working class point of view. I relate to the issues that affect everyday people.”
Democrats in Broward
Four years ago, the political outlook appeared much brighter Broward Democrats, though there were signs of trouble.
The Democrats of 2020 were buoyed by Joe Biden’s defeat of Trump even though the Democrat lost Florida and the Republican won the state.
Since then, Democrats have suffered a catastrophic decline in Florida, with Gov. Ron DeSantis’ overwhelming reelection victory in 2022 and Trump’s big win in 2024.
On the surface, things are better for Democrats in Broward than statewide — and much than in the two other two big South Florida counties, Miami-Dade, which went for DeSantis and Trump, and Palm Beach, which went for DeSantis and which Trump lost by a whisker.
Broward was one of only six Florida counties, out of 67, won by Vice President Kamala Harris and one of only six counties won by Democratic gubernatorial nominee Charlie Crist in 2022.
Democrats control all nine Broward County Commission districts, all four congressional districts that take in all or part of the county, all countywide elected officials, and 14 of the county’s 15 state senators and representatives are Democrats.
Democrats haven’t lost a countywide election since 2008 and haven’t lost a County Commission race since 2014.
John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel
Rick Hoye, right, is the chair of the Broward Democratic Party. At left, Manny Diaz, former chair of the Florida Democratic Party who resigned after the party performed poorly in the 2022 midterm elections, and former U.S. Rep. Val Demings of Orlando, who lost the 2022 election for U.S. Senate. They appeared at a party unity rally in Tamarac on Aug. 25 2022. (John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
But that masks some issues, starting with the trends at the top of the ticket.
Trump received 260,951 in 2016, 333,409 in 2020 and 358,952 this year.
Democrat Hillary Clinton received 553,320 votes in Broward in 2016, Biden got 618,752 in 2020, and Vice President Kamala Harris received 507,328 this year.
In a warning sign for Democrats, while they racked up victories in downballot offices — and defeated two DeSantis appointed School Board members — the margins were in many cases less than the overwhelming victories they racked up during their long dominance of the county.
Southern and western Broward stood out. U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz won with 54% of the vote, County Commissioner Nan Rich won with 53% of the vote against a little known candidate. And state Rep. Robin Bartleman won with 54%.
Record and plans
Olvera pointed to Rich’s reelection.
“My biggest concern is Nan Rich’s seat, the County Commission seat. I believe if we don’t start acting immediately, we are going to elect a first-ever Hispanic county commissioner. The question is, is it going to be a MAGA Republican or is it going to be a Democrat. And that’s on us, the Democratic Party,” Olvera said.
Olvera also cited the decline in the number of votes in Broward for Harris compared to Biden in 2020.
Hoye, however, pointed to the 406,000 Broward Democrats who voted in this year’s election, a turnout of 79.2%.
“That is an accomplishment. That is an achievement. Now you have to remember that Republicans have also been targeting Broward for some time. They want to replicate what happened in Miami-Dade here, and they’ve been open in that effort. And we’ve been successful at keeping them at bay,” Hoye said.
Hoye said Democrats are dealing with the “new realities” of the changing demographics in the county. By that he means the party establishment of white Democrats from decades ago is gone, replaced with a much more diverse range of voters and elected officials that are much more challenging to reach and engage, he said.
Olvera said the party needs to build an infrastructure, build up political clubs and caucuses to serve as “the first line of defense for the party” conducting voter registration, work harder to get people signed up to vote by mail, and run a year-round field operation to talk to voters.
Hoye said all of Olvera’s prescriptions are already in place or under way. During the last four years he said the party has added new clubs and caucuses and is in the process of adding more, and has held a range of organizing events, including the first-ever county Democratic party convention and 45 house parties.
He also said Broward Democrats made 88,154 phone calls, knocked on 26,260 doors, and held 587 vote-by-mail, voter registration and other community outreach events.
The choice
Hoye previously was the party’s first vice chair and has served as president of both the Broward Young Democrats and the Greater Sunrise Democratic Club.
In addition to serving as state committeeman, Olvera is president of the Dolphin Democrats, the county’s LGBTQ+ political club.
Democratic committeemen and committeewomen representing precincts throughout the county — currently totaling 372 — plus Democratic lawmakers who live in Broward will choose the party leader at a Dec. 7 election, along with a first vice chair, second vice chair, recording secretary, corresponding secretary, treasurer, lead state committeeman and lead state committeewoman.
The chair represents the county Democratic Party to voters, candidates and elected officials. The lead state committeeman and committeewoman represent the Broward Democrats at the state party level. The jobs are volunteer positions and don’t pay a salary.
Anthony Man can be reached at aman@sunsentinel.com and can be found @browardpolitics on Bluesky, Threads, Facebook and Mastodon.
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