PBC suspended chair's supporters blame "MAGA-left" for disunity, deepening party divisions

In Donald Trump's home county, even some Democrats are being branded with the MAGA label.

State party leader Nikki Fried's decision to suspend Palm Beach County Democratic Party Chairwoman Mindy Koch has devolved into anger and accusations that the "MAGA left" conspired against Koch with Trumpian tactics.

In a letter to Fried on March 6, 15 local Democrats involved in different organizations ripped Koch's critics as a "MAGA-left" faction that "borrowed a page" from the Make America Great Again movement led by Trump. Their strategy, similar to MAGA they said, was refusing "to recognize a legitimate election; obstruct that leader’s efforts to unify at every turn; organize opposition to drive the elected leader out; and install their own leadership," according to the letter.

"This is a formula for chaos and for a Republican takeover of Palm Beach County in November. Ultimately, it may be a formula for a takeover of the state party, and you may be the target of these tactics in the future," the letter warned.

Koch has called Fried's action unjust as she fights to retain the leadership post. She has said her suspension places Florida's county parties in an "extremely dangerous state" with a critical election looming for Democratic candidates on every ballot.

Democrats' intra-party feuding deepens in PBC in critical election year

The intra-party turmoil boiled over this month with Fried's suspension of Koch.

But it's been a tumultuous term for Koch, who was elected by only one vote in 2022 to replace longtime county Democratic leader Teri Rizzo. Koch won the race against progressive candidate Maria Cole, who drew the support of younger members who leaned more toward progressive ideologies.

For more than a year, Democrats have struggled to find agreement on budgets, campaign plans or even the way meetings of the ruling Democratic Executive Committee are held. This created a rift within the party, with Koch's supporters often clashing with a group of younger, progressive members who sharply disagreed with Koch's leadership style and her decisions.

Adding to the tension is the impending 2024 election. Local Democrats staggered into the pivotal presidential voting year off the disastrous 2022 midterm election in which Gov. Ron DeSantis and the statewide GOP slate carried traditionally blue bastion Palm Beach County by a landslide.

Palm Beach County has since grown even more pivotal for Democrats' 2024 aspirations.

While Democrats maintain a decisive edge in voter registrations in Palm Beach County, with about 55,000 over the GOP, statewide Republicans have a voter registration edge of more than 779,000 voters over Democrats. President Joe Biden's seeming longshot bid to win the state's 30 electoral votes, Democrats' aspirations to flip the U.S. Senate seat held by Rick Scott and perhaps write a pro-abortion amendment into Florida's Constitution will require a major turnout of Democrats in Palm Beach County.

Mindy Koch, suspended: Palm Beach County Democratic Party leader suspended by state chief amid 2024 election year.

Koch's supporters said party needed to rally around her. Others not sure 'MAGA left' was best wording

Joy Howell, who worked with Koch, was among those who signed the letter to Fried. She defended the wording, especially the use of the "MAGA left" terminology, saying the tactics employed against Koch are precisely "what MAGA Republicans do" in engaging in personal attacks and in not recognizing her election.

"I'm concerned about having a healthy, effective Democratic party. In order to do that, we need to unify around the idea that these tactics should be roundly condemned by everyone, from Nikki Fried on down," Howell said. "Democrats believe in democracy, believe in legitimate elections."

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But Alexandria Ayala, a Palm Beach County school board member who serves on the governing Democratic Executive Committee, said she supported Fried's decision to suspend Koch for the party to move past the yearlong-plus conflict.

Ayala added that using terms like "MAGA-left" against their own Democratic members was going into "negative territory."

"There's a lot of indecision on how to move forward, and at the end of the day, there's elections coming in August and November and there's a lot of work to do. So if this is causing so much division and disagreement, I think that speaks 100% to the state of the local party right now," Ayala said.

Palm Beach County Democrats have a generational divide

Ayala said she thinks part of the problem in the county comes from generational differences within the local party's leadership and membership, especially between older, longtime leaders and the rising ranks of those under the age of 40.

Ayala, who became the school board's youngest-ever member when she was elected in 2020 at age 27 and is a former leader in the Palm Beach County Young Democrats, said younger members often hold more progressive-leaning views and want different campaign efforts to appeal to youth voters. She said she has often seen these views fall on deaf ears in the party, and the division over Koch's chairmanship may also signify that.

Maria Cole, the county's state committeewoman who ran against Koch two years ago, focused her message on outreach to younger and minority communities, versus Koch's touting of her experience as the party's former vice chair and working to support local parties for decades.

The letter that Koch's supporters sent to Fried described Cole as a leader of a group of dissenters opposing Koch's leadership style. The letter also blamed Cole for the failure to adopt a budget last month, saying that Cole advised Koch to cancel a meeting because of internet issues and to adopt the budget March 7, three days after Koch's suspension.

"Unfortunately the faction headed by Cole has exploited that decision to the detriment of Chair Koch and the DEC," the letter read.

"It had to stop": Fried's decision to suspend local party chair comes with split sentiments

Koch's suspension was not the only action Fried took the day before Super Tuesday, March 5. Fried, who took over the state party's top spot in early 2023, also suspended the Miami-Dade and Franklin county chairs. Once suspended, the fates of Koch and her two peers rest on a committee that will review their cases and decide whether to make the suspensions permanent by formally ousting them from their leadership posts.

In her suspension notice to Koch, Fried said the county party's "inability to find compromise within your membership have altogether created an environment that prohibits the DEC from being compliant and successful."

Rolando Barrero, the president of the Democratic Hispanic Caucus of Florida, said Fried made the right decision.

"It had to stop," Barrero said of the intra-party conflicts and disputes. "I think it's rather a game that Nikki and Mindy have been caught in by a handful of people, and they've been pushed against a wall to act."

Barrero said he was caught in the middle of the conflict. He acknowledged that he initially voted for Cole for party chair but supported Koch after she won and started her term as chair since his goal is promoting effective leadership.

Barrero disagreed with the usage of the "MAGA-left," saying he dislikes that style of politics and that it doesn't accomplish the mission of promoting good leadership.

"I don't like that word even when it's referred to Trump," Barrero said. "I'd never adhere to name-calling."

Stephen Gaskill, the immediate past president of the Florida LGBTQ+ Democratic Caucus, said that although he has supported Fried for years, this case in Palm Beach County required "a little more hands-on attention."

Gaskill acknowledged that Fried visited the county in June to quell the debate and encourage unity, but that the "people who needed to hear her message of unity either didn't hear it or didn't want to hear it."

"I don't think we've received that from the FDP," Gaskill said of wanting more direct attention to the county's conflicts. "The bottom line here is this is a major election year for our county, and to remove the duly elected chair during the election is not helping the process."

Fried's PBC visit in June: 'The parent is coming in:' Nikki Fried intervenes as Palm Beach County Democrats feud

What's next for Palm Beach County?

County Democrats have an election to gear up for in November, and until the local party holds another election, Vice Chair Sean Rourk will serve as acting chair.

Joel Schleifer, who signed the letter supporting Koch, said the county is in "limbo at a crucial time, during the most crucial election year."

"To remove the county chair in the third largest county, one of the most Democratic counties in the state, in the middle of our fundraising season where we're trying to get people to vote by mail and we're trying to identify our prime voters, to me is very counterproductive," Schleifer said.

Ayala disagreed, and said the county party's mission is to elect Democrats and must be “in the strongest position to do that."

"The time for changes is now, so I'm ready to do the work if there's a plan," Ayala said. "The problem is sometimes it's just a lot of talking and no action. So, I hope that there's a plan to follow up the decision that was made."

Perhaps, but in the meantime, Koch is fighting to keep the chairmanship. On Wednesday, March 13 she sent a letter to the review committee asking for their support to keep her as chair.

In the letter, Koch said that she had met the compliance requests in submitting documents to the state, including documents such as campaign plans, a membership list and a budget. She noted that Fried's reasoning for removal included noncompliance with a state judicial council agreement from January, and she noted that Fried had "no statutory grounds for my suspension."

"The decision by Chair Fried to impose this sanction is arbitrary and capricious, and it will have a lasting, chilling effect on FDP," Koch wrote. "No County Chair has ever been suspended before, and if Chair Fried believes she has the authority to take this action against me, she clearly believes she can impose this on any one of you. This is an extremely dangerous state of being for the future of Democratic Party aspirations in Florida."

Stephany Matat is a politics reporter for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY-Florida network. Reach her at smatat@pbpost.com. Support local journalism: Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Palm Beach County Democratic chair supporters blame "MAGA-left"