Flagler County Democratic Party is 'not strong,' but leaders are joining forces

Palm Coast Observer
Opinion

Amid all the turmoil among Republicans, one thing is for sure: They're passionate. But where are the Democrats in Flagler County?

I received an email a couple of days ago that helped to show how things are developing for the Democrats. The email came from Ralph Lightfoot, and it was sent to let people know that there is no Flagler County Democratic Club, but if you want to reach someone, you can contact Lightfoot, who is the chairman of the Flagler County Democratic Executive Committee. Or, you can contact Merill Shapiro, who is the leader of the Democratic Progressive Caucus of Florida: Team Flagler-Volusia.

I emailed Lightfoot to ask two questions. His answers are as follows:

Do you feel like the Democratic Party is strong in Flagler County?

"At this stage we are not strong, but we are in the process of coming together, the Progressive Caucus and The Flagler DEC, to form a strong base," he wrote in the email. "We are actively recruiting Precinct Captains for all the precincts in the county."

Do you foresee many Democratic candidates filing to run for the 2016 elections?

"We will try to have candidates in all races that are 'winnable,'" he wrote. "As you know there are some offices in the county that are viewed as not winnable: Property Appraiser and Tax Collector. Other than that, we feel that all the other positions are winnable by Democrats."

I found the answers interesting for a couple of reasons. First, it's remarkably honest to say that the party is not strong. That's not something you expect to hear the leader of an organization say, but it certainly rings true. I give credit to Lightfoot for trying to make something happen for the party and to identify that there is a problem.

Second, it's interesting to say that some races are not winnable. I'm not sure if he intended to single out property appraiser and tax collector as the only races that are not winnable, or if those are just two examples. Also, it's interesting that he did not identify the other two constitutional officer positions that will be up for election, clerk of courts and supervisor of elections.