The Miami-Dade Democratic Party has big egg on their face in the wake of qualifying last week that left the one incumbent who was most important to challenge this year completely unfazed: State Rep. Jose Oliva — who brought guns to our schools, ladies and gentlemen — was reelected already without even a sigh.
Duysevi Miyar, the teacher and failed Miami-Dade School Board and one-time state House candidate who said she was going to challenge him, told her friends on Facebook last week, after she failed to do so, that she wasn’t gonna dwell on it.
“Sometimes things happen, and it hits you like a truck! I sent my qualifying documents and they didn’t make it on time. I don’t want to look back in the rear mirror. I want to look foward,” she wrote on her Facebook page eight hours after she missed the qualifying deadline June 22 and two days after she announced having been endorsed by United Teachers of Dade. “I will now focus my energies on helping my colleagues that are running. I will not lose hope! Thank you all that supported me! For this I am blessed.”
Blah blah things happen blah. Sorry not sorry but it should not have been left to the last moment or sent with someone else. Or maybe Miyar shouldn’t have been “feeling fantastic” at Disney World a day earlier, according to her Facebook addiction. Did the mouse make her late?
Read related: Florida State Rep. Jose Oliva must go — before he is speaker
But, really, it isn’t her fault. A race this important should never have been left to this flake in the first place and qualifying should have been taken care of on Day 1 by the Democratic Party, which gets all the blame.
“I’m also extremely disappointed,” Dade Dems Chair Juan Cuba texted Ladra Friday. “Sevy feels terrible.”
Sevy feels terrible? Doesn’t really seem that way from Facebook. And anyway, you should feel worse. Wasn’t this the blue wave year to make a statement? And what better statement could you have made than to take out the House Speaker? We talked about this, Juan. We agreed he was the No. 1 target.
Cuba and any other self respecting Democrat leader should feel the total weight of this epic fail for the rest of this election cycle and maybe beyond. If they hadn’t been so busy meddling in a local county election getting Eileen Higgins elected (to impact a congressional race not local issues so much), maybe they would have been able to unseat the next Speaker of the House.
Read related: Dems push full court press for Eileen Higgins in special District 5 county race
Oliva was ripe for the taking. As the architect of the vile and widely hated Marshall Program part of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Student Safety Act, he was vulnerable. The Dems coudla shoulda ran someone else against him. Anybody would do this year. Just put Oliva with guns up on some billboards and bingo, we got ourselves a new state rep in Miami Lakes — and a new Speaker.
But noooooooo. Instead, he coasts. Like he’s done something to deserve a coast.
This is by far the biggest missed opportunity in state races that we’ve seen probably in a decade. It’s why Cuba wouldn’t call me back about it. Or text further. If some think that Miami-Dade GOP Chair Nelson Diaz should resign his seat for losing the Miami-Dade District 5 election, what does Cuba deserve for this colossal crapout?
And how can we have any confidence in anything else they do this year?
No matter how many seats they turn blue this is going to be the Dems’ legacy for 2018: Eileen Higgins for Jose Oliva.

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Eight months ’til the general election and local Democrats decided that they need Juan Cuba is back at the helm of the Miami-Dade party.

Cuba, who had served as executive director for two years before leaving in 2014 to be a political strategist for the Service Employees International Union, was back on the job this week — just in time to welcome Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro and Congresswoman and DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz at a pre-debate party Wednesday.

Because this is all about November.

“I’m excited to be back with the Miami-Dade Democratic Party. This is the most important election of my lifetime, especially with the Supreme Court hanging in the balance,” Cuba told Ladra.

Read related story: Juan Cuba leaves Dade Dems for union job, doing the same

“I want to make sure we deliver a big margin of victory in Miami-Dade for the Democratic nominee, and that we are electing Democrats up and down the ballot,” he said, although Ladra can’t help but notice a dearth of any real, viable Democrat candidates in vulnerable seats like the one held by State Rep. Carlos Trujillo, whose district went to Obama in 2012.

But Cuba, who was sorta forced to run for office in that “No Free Rides” campaign the Dade Dems launched (unsuccessfully) against GOP House incumbents, isn’t going to run again after losing nearly 2 to 1 against State Rep. Jose Pepe “Selfie King” Diaz. He’d rather help increase voter participation from the big picture perspective.

He also promised that Dade Dems — who got involved in local government issues when the subsidy to the Miami Dolphins was first floated and then fought library closures and helped get Commissioner Daniella Levine-Cava elected in 2014 — would stay engaged in local politics.

“Even though the elections are nonpartisan, the candidates are not,” he said.

Read related story: Dade Dems wage full House battle with 6 challengers

“Right now, you have elected officials who abuse anti-poverty funds and spend it on luxury development, people who want to cut services in low-income neighborhoods but have no problem providing subsidies to millionaires and billionaires,” Cuba said, and Ladra can’t help but think he’s talking about the county mayor.

“There are efforts to privatize municipal services including our water supply, and inaction around transit and affordable housing that can help low-income families.”

Yep. I was right. That’s Carlos Gimenez to a T.

“We are going to apply our Democratic values to local issues and fight for working families,” Cuba said.

And since Ladra is officially on Team Raquel (working with the mayor’s opponent, Miami-Dade School Board Member Raquel Regalado), our tail is wagging. Because I think, by now, the Democrats — who had tried to get Miami-Dade Commissioner Jean Monestime to run — have given up on finding their own candidate for the mayoral race.

Welcome back, Juan!