After months of inner turmoil over who would lead them during the 2014 elections, Florida House Democrats on Wednesday chose Rep. Mark Pafford of West Palm Beach as their next minority leader.
By a 29-12 vote, with one person abstaining, Pafford, 47, beat Rep. Alan Williams of Tallahassee for a job that earlier in the week had belonged to Rep. Darryl Rouson of St. Petersburg.
“The first thing is getting everybody comfortable, understanding that we’ve hit the reset button and we are one,” Pafford said to reporters after the vote, acknowledging the disarray that awaits him. “I have some work to do immediately.”
Pafford heads a 44-member House Democratic caucus heavily outnumbered by 75 Republicans. Along with the removal of Rouson by a 24-17 vote Monday night, the staff director overseeing fundraising for 2014 House races was fired earlier in the month, leaving oversight of a critical special election in a New Port Richey district in question.
Rouson lost the confidence of a majority of the caucus after he opened a campaign account that only he could control without informing party leaders.
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