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New Chair Sees Democratic Resurgence

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By WILLIAM MARCH

wmarch@tampatrib.com

Published: February 1, 2009

TAMPA - Pat Kemp, newly elected chairwoman of the Hillsborough County Democratic Party, sees hope for a Democratic resurgence nationwide and this county, where the party has languished for years.

In December, Kemp took over as chairwoman of a local party organization that has lagged behind the local Republican Party in numbers and enthusiasm.

But she believes Democratic electoral victories in the county on Nov. 8 signal a change.

Hillsborough has historically had more Democrats than Republicans - 43 percent Democratic, 33 percent Republican and 23 percent others by registration as of the Nov. 8 election.

But it hasn't acted Democratic for years.

Prior to Barack Obama's win, Hillsborough went Democratic for president only twice in 40 years, for Jimmy Carter in 1976 and Bill Clinton in 1996. Before wins in November by County Commissioner Kevin Beckner and Elections Supervisor Phyllis Busansky, there was only one Democratic commissioner, Kevin White, and one countywide elected official, Clerk of Court Pat Frank.

The local Democratic executive committee, meanwhile, has suffered in recent years from internal dissension, leadership turnover and lagging membership.

Meanwhile, the local Republican Party went through a dramatic expansion starting around 2003, becoming the biggest county GOP executive committee in the state with more than 400 members.

The executive committees, the local party organizations, consist of representatives from voting precincts. They provide volunteers and an organizing base for local campaigns and political events, and are sometimes a gauge of state and local political swings.

Kemp, 51, of Seminole Heights, is a WUSF news director who began a second career as a lawyer for Bay Area Legal Services, then as an aide and campaigner for former state Rep. Sarah Romeo and former County Commissioner Kathy Castor, who's now a member of Congress.

Kemp and her husband, Randy Wynne, program director at radio station WMNF, 88.5 FM, live in Seminole Heights and have a daughter in college and a son in high school.

In recent years the local Republican Party has grown in membership and enthusiasm, but not the local Democratic Party. Can you fix that?

"I think that's a misconception. One of the reasons I decided to run for chairwoman is because I saw this burgeoning of interest that really excited me, after years of seeing the party flounder.

"About two years ago I started seeing that something was happening in Hillsborough County ... Democrats started forming their own groups a gay-lesbian caucus and clubs in East Hillsborough, Sun City Center, New Tampa and elsewhere, not places where you'd expect a lot of Democrats."

"In the campaign, they were out knocking on doors, making phone calls. They made the difference with Kevin Beckner. ... On top of that, the Obama wave came in. We have a lot of people that are poised, energized and ready to do whatever."

Do you see any other signs of success?

"Not only did Obama win the county, but he won by 53-46 percent. Kevin Beckner won by even more, 55-45 percent ... Those were huge, and Phyllis Busansky's win countywide. And we defeated Amendment 2 which added to the state constitution a ban on same-sex marriage. It didn't get 60 percent in the county, so it would have failed if it had the same result everywhere else."

Was the Democratic success just the result of political circumstances including a popular presidential candidate, or part of a political shift?

"I think there's some sort of transformation, and I felt it two years ago. ... I first saw it coming just before 2006. I had a hard time believing it because I'd believed it so many times before, or wanted to, and it wasn't happening. But I think now it has happened.

"For most of my adult life, Republicans, conservative forces have been in power. ... I've been fighting a tide; I've spent my adult life at odds with what was happening."

"Now I think that era has run its course. We've seen what happens when you deregulate, when personal greed prevails, when you've lost a sense of community service, when your health care system is broken, when you're tapping oil without looking at your energy future. And we've taken this unfortunately to the point of crisis.

"Now I think we have to become a different nation."

Are things improving for the local party?

"Yes. When I was elected Dec. 1, there were about 200 people there. A lot of people were thrilled to see people there they haven't seen in quite a while.

"We had been having 40-50 people. There hasn't been huge internal squabbling, but it hasn't been brimming with enthusiasm either. Then at our first meeting after the inauguration, we had about 100 people, standing room only."

What are your goals as chairwoman?

"I'm working on rebuilding with the clubs and caucuses now. ... If we're going to win Hillsborough County, we're going to have to not be a Democratic executive committee of 100. We're going to have to be a DEC of 1,000."

That would make it the state's biggest, even bigger than Broward County, the Democratic stronghold. Is that realistic?

"I'm serious. We need that to work a county like this."

What about money? The local party hasn't had reliable financial support.

"If people see the party being organized and fiscally responsible and spending their money well, I think there are many people out there that are more than willing to come forward."

"My biggest challenge right now truly is the number of people that are calling me that want to get involved, that are excited, that have enthusiasm."

Reporter William March can be reached at (813) 259-7761.

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