MIAMI, FL: The CARES Act included $400 million in election safety grants, with Florida eligible for over $20 million dollars to make our elections safer. Yet, as of May 12, Florida is one of only six states that have not requested these funds.

Calls for accepting the funding continue to mount. Over the last week, Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried and Democratic members of Florida’s congressional delegation have called on Governor Ron DeSantis to request these needed funds.

Steve Simeonidis, chair of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party, urged Governor DeSantis to act to protect Florida voters:

“No one should have to choose between exercising their right to vote and protecting their health. While we are focused every day on educating voters on safe ways to exercise their rights to vote, it is a travesty that the DeSantis administration has not requested the federal funds allocated to Florida to make our elections safer. He must act now.” 

Most people don't realize, but it's up to registered Democratic Party voters to elect who will represent them at the Democratic National Convention in August! All you need to do is make sure you request a ballot at this link by Wednesday 5pm, and you will be emailed a ballot. Actual voting will take place electronically between Thursday and Saturday.

Enter here to request an electronic ballot for this special online election

FDOT should learn from Giménez’s deadly failures, put safety above politics in selecting new FIU bridge construction firm

MIAMI FL: Two years after the tragic collapse of a pedestrian bridge at Florida International University that killed six, Florida’s Department of Transportation announced its plan for a new bridge project yesterday.

“Over and over, Corrupt Carlos Giménez has doled out public money to his friends, family, and donors. He favored extending a $130 million contract to the firm who built the original bridge, because of his deep family ties to the firm,” said Steve Simeonidis, Chair of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party. “Governor DeSantis and Transportation Secretary Thibault must avoid this mistake. The next FIU bridge contract should go to a firm that does competent, safe work, not a political insider.”

It's time to end Trump's chaos.

He downplayed the severity of the coronavirus pandemic, then he avoided responsibility, and started promoting unproven (and downright dangerous) cures. We've made a video about it.

Trump's chaos is killing us. We can end the chaos with your help.

https://www.miamidadedems.org/endthechaos

The beginning of May marks several milestones. We have 108 days until our August Primary when we can elect a Democratic Mayor of Miami-Dade for the first time in 16 years. 

And we have 185 days until November 3, when we defeat Trump and send a new crop of Democrats to Tallahassee to hold Governor DeSantis accountable for the mess Florida is in.

We’re in a strong position to do both of these things, thanks to historically high Democratic voter registration in Miami-Dade. We announced this week that we had 616,553 registered Democrats in our county, an increase of nearly 14,000 voters since the 2018 election. We’re proud of that enormous voter registration push, and we think it puts us in a strong position for the August and November elections. 

Now our focus is on making phone calls to voters around the county to enroll them in Vote-By-Mail. And we made the decision weeks ago that these phone calls would be wellness checks first. There is dire need in Miami-Dade County. In fact, there is real food insecurity here due to the combination of joblessness and the broken unemployment system that Rick Scott and the Republican legislature in Tallahassee created.

On these phone banks, we’ve connected voters with resources they need. We’ve heard from folks who ask for help finding food distributions. And we’ve helped many, many voters enroll in Vote-By-Mail.