News

Election 2004

Primary hinges on black vote

The top three Democratic U.S. Senate candidates work hard to line up black votes, a must-have for a nomination.

By ANITA KUMAR
Published July 25, 2004

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U.S. Senate candidate Peter Deutsch has launched a radio ad campaign aimed at black voters. The Hollywood congressman has received crucial endorsements from two of Florida's three black U.S. House members.

And he supports a bill that would allow a single member of Congress to challenge results of an election, a hot-button issue for black voters still angry about the disputed 2000 presidential election.

It's all about courting Florida's black voters, some of the most loyal Democrats and a group that is largely up for grabs for the winner-take-all Aug. 31 Democratic Senate primary.

Deutsch's supporters portray him as the candidate working the hardest to win support from black voters. But former state education commissioner Betty Castor and Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas also are crisscrossing the state, attending events targeted at black voters several times a week.

"I think all the candidates realize the importance of African-American voters," said state Rep. Ed Jennings, a Gainesville Democrat who heads the legislative black caucus. "They understand in a state as diverse as ours how important it is."

About one in every four of the 4-million registered Democrats in Florida is black. Some recent estimates indicate at least 60 percent of those black voters are undecided in the Senate race.

All three major Democratic candidates attend Sunday services at black churches. They lead round table discussions in black neighborhoods. They drop in at historically black colleges, touting their efforts to hire minorities.

And all three will have ads aimed at black voters.

Castor, a former University of South Florida president, hosted a meet-and-greet with Tampa Bay area black leaders at her Ybor City headquarters Friday night to answer questions and solicit support.

"I'm getting perspective on how I can reach out to the African-American community," she told the group of three dozen people who attended. "I need to make sure I'm touching base."

But so far, it's been tough to distinguish between the three major candidates.

"It's a revolving door of the same speeches," said James Evans, who is black and serves as the executive director of the Tampa Bay Academy of Hope, which helps children overcome hardships. "They know what to say."

The Democratic candidates all talk about the same key issues: Bringing more, higher-paying jobs to the state and stabilizing the economy. Offering affordable health care and prescription drugs. Eliminating the achievement gap between black and white children in public schools.

And, of course, ensuring every vote counts despite flawed lists of potential felons and concerns over touch screen voting machines that do not produce paper trails.

Unlike previous years, no single issue is dominant for black voters.

"People make decisions - good or bad," said Monroe Mack, a black Democratic activist in Hillsborough County. "We have to do what we can to elect people who have our interest at heart."

Most recent polls show Castor leading Deutsch and Penelas. But they also show at least a quarter of all Democratic voters are undecided.

James Harris, an African-American Democratic strategist not involved in the race, said endorsements from elected black officials will influence undecided black voters.

"The three (members of Congress) are like senators in the black community," he said. "Elected leaders are always very influential for us."

U.S. Reps. Alcee Hastings of Miramar and Corrine Brown of Jacksonville support Deutsch. As a state legislator in 1992, Deutsch played a key role in drawing the congressional districts that enabled Hastings and Brown to win congressional seats. Last November, a political action committee controlled by Deutsch donated to the re-election campaigns of Hastings and Brown.

Hastings and Brown helped release Deutsch's radio ads, which claim Deutsch "stood with us" when former President Clinton faced impeachment and during the election "mess" in 2000. The ads started five weeks ago, earlier than most ads targeting black voters.

"You can no longer barbecue a pig the weekend before the election and think you're going to turn out the African-American vote," said Brown, when she helped introduce the ads.

Penelas has secured the support of other high-profile African-American leaders. They include former Duval County Sheriff Nat Glover, who lost a bid for mayor of Jacksonville last year, and U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek of Miami, who worked with Penelas on his statewide universal prekindergarten program.

"People don't want to be ignored," said Penelas, who often stresses his experience in diverse Miami-Dade County. "They don't want to be taken for granted."

Castor has support from several black legislators, including Tampa's Sen. Les Miller, the incoming Senate minority leader, and Rep. Curtis Richardson of Tallahassee, who worked for her at the Department of Education. Pinellas County commissioners Ken Welch and Calvin Harris also are campaigning for her.

Former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, a favorite of black voters who narrowly lost the Democratic nomination for governor two years ago, said she regularly introduces Castor to key black leaders.

"She is no stranger to the African-American community - that is a fact," said Tom Scott, an African-American church pastor and chairman of the Hillsborough County Commission. "Betty believes in diversity."

The candidates' strategy is clear: Win their home bases in either South or Central Florida and try to capture black voters across the state and voters in North Florida, who have no hometown candidate.

"Those two groups will make the election," Jennings said.

More than 1-million of the 9-million voters in Florida are black, and more than 90 percent of them are registered Democrats able to vote in the primary.

"It's one of the groups I've made an effort with," Deutsch said. "I want to help make the promise of America, the reality of America ... But there is a disproportionate effect on the black community."

Black turnout is expected to be higher in some areas, where black elected officials face opposition in the primary.

Hastings and Brown, who support Deutsch, will be on the ballot and are known for getting their constituents to the polls in large numbers. And Sen. Larcenia Bullard, a Miami Democrat and an African-American, faces a rematch with former state Rep. Ron Saunders in a district that stretches from suburban Miami to Key West.

But most voters remain focused on the presidential race and the general election, not the Senate primary, which is just five weeks away.

"To try to get African-Americans excited about this group of Democrats, it's hard," said Rob Schroth, a Democratic pollster with offices in Washington and Miami. "They can be out in full force if they want, but it may not help."

- Times staff writer Lucy Morgan and researcher Kitty Bennett contributed to this report.

[Last modified July 24, 2004, 23:56:20]

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