Rumblings indicate Scott Maddox isn't a shoo-in to be re-elected leader of the battered state party.
By ADAM C. SMITH
Published November 18, 2004
It's post-election time, so it must be time for Florida Democrats to think about ousting their party chairman.
While Democratic Party chairman Scott Maddox plans to ask party activists on Dec. 12 to re-elect him, he faces at least some rumblings about whether he's the right person to lead the beleaguered party.
Given Maddox's widely known ambition to run for governor or other statewide office in 2006, some Democrats question if his own interests pose a conflict.
"As party chairman, one of his big duties is to be the cheerleader for all of our statewide candidates, and it's difficult to do that if he's running against one of them," said state Sen. Steve Geller, D-Hallandale Beach, who met with Maddox Tuesday to suggest he decide whether he wants to run for office or lead the party.
Maddox said Wednesday he has not decided whether to run for office, but would resign as chairman if he does. He attributed the second-guessing to a handful of people "trying to bloody me up to keep me from running against one of them."
Geller, for instance, is an ally of state Sens. Rod Smith of Gainesville, a potential gubernatorial candidate, and Walter "Skip" Campbell of Fort Lauderdale, a prospective candidate for attorney general.
By most accounts, Maddox's party post is safe when Democrats elect new officers in Orlando. But the former Tallahassee mayor and attorney general candidate acknowledged the risks that an ambitious politician takes on when leading a statewide party. Though he has spent nearly two years getting to know activists across the state, he has few recent successes to boast of.
Maddox touts his efforts to build a "bench" of local Democratic candidates and improve the party infrastructure, but Nov. 2 left many Democrats wondering if their party could sink lower.
President Bush beat John Kerry decisively, Republican Mel Martinez won retiring Democrat Bob Graham's U.S. Senate seat, and Republicans took three more state House seats from Democrats.
But in contrast to 2002, when Democrats ousted state chairman Bob Poe after the party's poor showing, party officials are relatively muted in their criticism of Maddox.
"I'm hearing rumblings, but I'm not hearing loud ones," said Miami-Dade Democratic chairman Ray Zeller.
Doug Courtney, a state committeeman from Flagler County, is challenging Maddox, saying he hasn't shown results and will probably resign in a few months anyway. Courtney is not well known across the state.
Maddox, whose property holdings in Tallahassee include a $3.3-million apartment complex and a $900,000 home, earns $100,000 as state chairman.
- Times staff writers Joni James and Steve Bousquet contributed to this report.
