In the News

Florida Democrats Add Dozens More Staff


Staffed Up And Ready To Beat Trump In November


The Florida Democratic Party continues to grow in strength and in staff. Today, the party announced dozens of new hires and promotions, bringing the party staff total to 104 campaign staff. The new additions make the state party the largest state campaign staff in the country — and larger than Donald Trump’s Florida re-election campaign staff.

Terrie Rizzo, chair of the Florida Democratic Party, stated:

“We said we were going to defeat Trump in Florida and we mean it. In 2019, we grew our voter registration edge over Republicans and have surpassed 5 million registered Democrats for the first time in history. Our amazing staff of 100 campaign professionals have mobilized more than 12,000 volunteers to complete 40,000 volunteer shifts — and we aren’t stopping until we take back our state and make Donald Trump a one-term President.”

The party is in the midst of a massive voter registration effort across the Sunshine State. Upon launching voter registration efforts in July of 2019, FDP registered 28 voters per day. In February, the Florida Democratic Party increased that average to 482 registrations per day — 50,000 registrations so far and we are on pace to collect 150,000 more registrations before the start of the general election in August.


Promotions

 


Brittney Geathers
Director of African-American Outreach


Geathers has worked and volunteered on local, state, and congressional campaigns in Florida, Virginia, and North Carolina since 2010. Her most recent role with FDP was serving as the Community Engagement Director for Region 7 working with democrats in urban and rural counties and on college campuses from Tallahassee to Gainesville. She has been active with groups including the Leon County Democratic Black Caucus, Young Democrats, and NAACP. She is a proud MBA graduate from Florida A&M University.


Ella K. Coffee
Deputy Director of Political Affairs


Coffee has been with the state party working as a statewide deputy director in community engagement since 2019. Working to help elect Democrats in Florida is a high priority for Coffee: “When we look at the values of Democrats and why we fight for our rights, we are fighting for our children and grandchildren. We are fighting for ALL to share in a common purpose, being respected to live our lives in a country that appreciates diversity.”


Abigayil Yisrael
Regional Field Director for Hillsborough, Sumter, and Pasco County

Before embarking on her new role, she was Northeast Florida community engagement director for Duval, Nassau, Clay, St.Johns, Putnam, Bradford, Columbia, Union, and Baker counties. In 2016, she served as a presidential field organizer for FDP. Yisrael is a proud graduate of the University of North Florida.



Keith Hardy
Regional Field and Engagement Director, Panhandle

Hardy is a native of Pensacola and a graduate of the University of West Florida. He has been involved in Democratic politics since 2004, starting out as a volunteer and later working as a staffer for various campaigns. He is being promoted from his position as Community Engagement Director for the Panhandle region.



Sam Dorr
Regional Field and Engagement Director, Miami-Dade

Dorr is a native Miamian and longtime South Florida activist. After graduating from the University of Florida in 2002, he worked as a legislative aide to a Member of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington. Since moving back to South Florida in 2006, he has worked on all manner of campaigns, from municipal to presidential races, and is committed to taking Florida back in 2020.


Harrison Angelis
Regional Field and Engagement Director, Seminole and Volusia County

A 17-year resident of Seminole County, Angelis started with the party in 2016 as an Organizing Fellow. During the midterms, he worked for U.S. Rep. Stephanie Murphy‘s successful re-election campaign in 2018, and after that rejoined the party as its Central Florida community engagement director in 2019.

 
Jami Hudson
Regional Field Director For Southwest Florida

Hudson has been with the FDP since April of 2018, I have worked as a Community Engagement Director for SouthWest FL as well as a Regional Field Director during the 2018 Coordinated Campaign. I moved to Fort Myers Florida in 2004 from Minneapolis MN. 


Alex Berrios
Regional Field Director For Palm Beach County

Berrios returned to the Florida Democratic Party as a community engagement director in 2019, after serving as a field organizer in 2018 and was a recount site lead after the election. He is the founder of the Palm Beach County Youth Foundation and is a business owner, being the owner of Tactical Boxing and Fitness since 2005.


Brooke Christy
Regional Field Director For Orange And Brevard Counties

Christy is a Central Florida native and relocated to Orlando after graduating from Florida State University. During her time in Tallahassee, Brooke displayed her commitment to public service: she served as the legislative analyst to the Florida Senate Democratic Office, lead organizer for a Tallahassee Mayoral campaign, and field organizer for Andrew Gillum’s gubernatorial campaign. Christy has committed her education and career to empowering the voices of others, and coordinating grassroots efforts.

 New Hires

 


Jes Cruz
Training Director 

Cruz is the new Training Director at the Florida Democratic Party where she oversees the 2020 training program. She previously served as the Deputy Director of Training at EMILY’s List, where she managed the on-the-ground logistics for the Run to Win training program including candidate training and conferences, and she has worked on several campaigns. 


Miles Davis
Deputy Political Director

Davis joined FDP after working as a legislative aide for State Rep. Dianne Hart. A 2016 campaign veteran, Miles previously worked on the campaigns of St. Pete Mayor Rick Kriseman, Iowa State Senator Nate Boulton, Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine and candidate for U.S. Congress against Ted Yoho, former Gainesville City Commissioner Yvonne Hayes Hinson.


Sam Koplewicz
Deputy Voter Protection Director

Koplewicz was born and raised in New York City. He received a BA in Public Policy from Brown University and a JD from Harvard Law School. Sam was a Fulbright Scholar in Croatia where he studied money laundering law enforcement. He was also a Harvard Law Satter Fellow for Human Rights Watch in Lebanon. 

Herly Rosemond
Voter Protection Deputy Director

The daughter of Haitian immigrants, Herlande knows firsthand the impact of poverty and lack of educational opportunities. A first-generation student of higher education, Herlande earned her A.B., summa cum laude, from Bowdoin College and her J.D. from Vanderbilt University Law School. Herlande is a former associate and law clerk to two different federal judges. During the 2016 and 2018 election cycle, she did voter protection work in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Herlande brings a wealth of professional experience and personal passion to her role as voter protection deputy director for the Florida Democratic Party. 


Cassie Baars
Deputy Finance Director 

Baars joined the Florida Democratic Party recently as deputy finance director after working as a national finance assistant on Sec. Julián Castro’s presidential campaign. 


Conner Jure
Regional Field Director Pinellas County

Jure is a Pinellas County native, where he is the Regional Field Director for the Florida Democratic Party. Previously, he was a Field Organizer in New Hampshire for Senator Cory Booker’s presidential campaign. He was also a Field Organizer in St. Petersburg, for the Florida Coordinated Campaign for the 2018 midterm election. 


Jeffrey Pole
Regional Field Director for Broward

Pole is a lifelong Democrat and an Army veteran of seven years, Pole worked as a field organizer for FDP in 2016 on the Hillary Clinton campaign. He has been involved in the Broward Democratic Party since the 2016 election and served as second vice-chair of the county party. 

New Field Hires: 

New College Organizers:

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