Florida Democratic Party pushes for primary do-over

Florida’s Democratic Party chairwoman urged Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, the national party and the state’s congressional delegation to consider a combined mail-in and in-person vote as a redo of the Jan. 29 presidential primary.

The idea would be to mail ballots to all registered Democrats and set up 50 regional offices to help “disadvantaged communities” participate in an election ending June 3, state party Chairwoman Karen Thurman said in a memo to the campaigns and state and national party leaders.

Florida’s nine Democratic congressmen voted Tuesday night to oppose a mail-in vote. Thurman urged them to reconsider.

“There is no question that we must move quickly to deal with the dispute over Florida’s Democratic presidential primary. Fingers have been pointed in every direction, but how we arrived at this breaking point is irrelevant. The stark reality is that all Democrats lose if this is not resolved immediately,” Thurman wrote in a memo that included a draft of the plan. A copy of the memo was obtained Wednesday by the Associated Press.

Thurman asked party leaders to review the draft and send feedback by Friday. On Monday, if there is consensus to go forward with the plan, the party would begin raising the estimated $10 million to $12 million to pay for the vote while also gathering public comment.

Democrats in Florida and Michigan have been scrambling to ensure their delegates will be seated at the national convention in Denver in August. The Democratic National Committee stripped the states of their delegates for moving their primaries ahead of Feb. 5.

Clinton won Florida and Michigan, although she was the only major candidate on the ballot in Michigan.

Michigan Democratic Party leaders were considering several options, including a mail-in vote or a state-run Democratic primary to be held in May or June and paid for by Democratic donors.