While the FDP has not provided a list of last Saturday's Caucus winners yet, I have heard from some of you and your County Leaders, hear that Congratulations is in order for most of you. I'm excited that so many LGBT Delegates will be joining me in Tampa, with real opportunities to be a Delegate to the 2012 Democratic National Convention, and I know you are too!

I'm writing this tonight because, if you want to go to Charlotte as a Delegate to the Democratic National Convention (DNC), there is a deadline of Thursday at 5 pm to get you filing form to the FDP in Tallahassee. Please find that filing form attached to this email. At this point, due to time, submit you form via email to Nick Pellito at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or fax to 850-222-0916.

Also, for those of you who won the election on Saturday, I want you to know - that was the easy part of your road to Charlotte. On June 2nd and 3rd elected Delegates from around the state will meet at one of 5 hotels in downtown Tampa to elect Delegates to the DNC. Over 1200 FDP State Convention Delegates were elected on May 5th.

The Congressional District (CD) Caucuses will all be held on the morning of Saturday, June 2nd, where the District Level Delegates will be elected. Only the Delegates that were elected in your CD will be voting in this election. Please find attached the Distribution of Delegates by Congressional Districts.

Then on Sunday morning, June 3rd, there will be a meeting of the District Level (184 total), the Pledged Party Leader/Elected Officials (PLEO-31 total) and the Un-Pledged or Automatic Delegates. This gathering will be to elect the At-Large (61) and Alternate Delegate (23), along with the Standing Committee Members. Florida is allocated nine (9) members on each of the three standing committees (Credentials, Platform and Rules), for a total of twenty-seven (27) members.

There are also Affirmative Action Goals that must be achieved and these goals are very important to the Democratic National Committee and the Obama Campaign. It is important that the Florida Delegation look like our state and meeting these goals is the way this will happen. I am attaching the 2012 Delegate Selection Plan and suggest that you refer to Page 24 for the details of the Affirmative Action Goals.

It is very important that each of you are designated at a LGBT American, as the AA Goals for LGBT Americans is 12% of our entire delegation, or 36 Delegates and 3 Alternates. If you happen to fit into another catagory, such as African American, Hispanic, Native American, Asian/Pacific, Disabled, Youth (18-34), Vererans or from a Small County, that is all the better. Now considering all this, my advice to you…. if you really want to go to Charlotte, you need to have a strategy. Treat this like a campaign - review the list of voters (those in your CD and the entire State Convention Delegate list when it's available), contact them and develop allies. Let your OFA Organizers know that you are running for a DNC Delegate position. The Friday evening before the Convention there will be many opportunities to meet and greet other Delegates, along with all day on Saturday. We are planning a GLBT event of some kind so we can all get to know each other, so stay tuned for that. And I might add a thank you to those of you who have now become members of our GLBT Caucus.

 

So, in closing, I again want to remind you that if you wish to run for District-level Delegate positions to the DNC; you must fill out and submit an application form (attached). The form must be received by the FDP by 5:00 PM, Thursday, May 10.

I look forward to seeing you all in Tampa!

I wish you the best of luck!

And don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns or if I can assist you in any way.

This is to announce that the Florida GLBT Democratic Caucus will hold it's Summer Membership Meeting at the Diplomat Hotel, Meeting Room 202 from 9 AM to 11:30 AM on Saturday, July 14th.

We will be providing, at least, a continental breakfast starting at 8 AM. There will be a $35 Member Registration Fee ($20 for Members who are students) for the morning Membership Meeting, which will include breakfast. The Non-Member Registration Fee is $50 ($35 for Non-Member Students).

When planning this meeting, we discussed holding a Coalition Building Session, continuing what the Black Caucus started at their Convention in May and inviting other Democratic Caucuses, especially the Black, Hispanic and Disability Caucuses to participate. I am happy to say that on the JJ 'Tentative' Schedule (see attached), sponsored by the FDP, there will be a 'Caucus of the Caucuses' session as part of the Affirmative Action Committee Meeting from 2:30 to 4 PM Saturday afternoon. This meeting will involve all Caucus Presidents/Chairs and is open to all Democrats. We will be participating in this session, and I would encourage all of you to plan on attending. The GLBT Caucus will gather back together in Meeting Room 303 at 4 PM. We will adjourn at 5 PM to get ready ('pretty up') for the JJ Dinner.

The GLBT Caucus has reserved 2 tables for the JJ Dinner, so please plan to sit with the Caucus, at the DEC rate of $150. If you've already purchased your tickets, please let us know so we can put your name on the list we submit to the FDP.