New chair of Miami-Dade Democrats is BJ Chiszar

BJ Chiszar is the new chairman of Miami-Dade Democrats. It’s an energized throng of 600,000-plus with a big presidential victory under their belts and many more goals before them.

We have a charming and powerful new director – charming enough to have his lovely mother, Dawn Goldman, be one to second his nomination with stories of how the “born politician” was an organizer as a toddler, and powerful enough to quiet a disputatious crowd starting to … well, let’s not predict how that might have developed.

Back to bare facts: This was the organizational meeting of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party, in its legal body, the Democratic Executive Committee, with some 200 members present Wednesday evening and voting on officers for four-year terms, as we must right after every presidential election. Most of the voters are precinct committeemen and committeewomen elected in the August primary. Well over the quorum of 141 were present in the Firefighters Hall in Miami, and we were watched over by representatives of the Florida Democratic Party, Pasco County Chairwoman Alison Berke Morano and Hamilton County Chairman Rhett Bullard, who counted the votes along with Pinecrest Mayor Cindy Lerner, our outgoing state committeewoman.

As this blog will be neutral and positive in local party issues, here are the bare results.

--For Chair: BJ (Benjamin John) Chiszar, a professional campaigner, defeated tax attorney Eric Copeland in the second round of voting, 108-87. Miami Beach activist Dave Patlak, outgoing vice chair for outreach, was eliminated in the first round with 41 votes.

--For State Committeewoman: Verna Lewis Edington won in the second round over Millie Herrera, 92-86. Ann-Lynn Denker was eliminated in the first round with 38 votes.

--For State Committeeman: Bret Berlin won over Dr. Thomas Pinder, 134-57. Berlin has been the party chair for most of the past year and previously was state committeeman since 2004.

--For First Vice Chair: Daisy Black, a former mayor of El Portal, won over outgoing First Vice Chair Bess McElroy, 95-77.

--For Program Vice Chair: Liz Collins won in the first round with 76 votes over Edith Owens with 33, America Schroh with 23 and Walter Liebowitz with 19.

--For Outreach Vice Chair: Henry Crespo Sr. won over Alix Desulme, 84-75.

--For Secretary: Fanny Olmo won unopposed after the outgoing secretary, Charlotte Klieman, declined to run.

--For Treasurer: Paul Barthole won over Gabriel Mendoza, 101-52.

Thanks to all who ran! Thanks to those who served as officers in the previous term! Thanks to all who stayed through a long meeting and voted repeatedly!