Palm Beach County Democratic Party leader suspended by state chief amid 2024 election year.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with comments from suspended Palm Beach County Democratic leader Mindy Koch.

After more than a year of divisive conflicts between Palm Beach County Democratic leaders and key volunteers, state party chief Nikki Fried has suspended Mindy Koch from her position as chair of the local party's ruling board.

The suspension marks the first time a state party leader has initiated the process for removing an elected county party chair from the helm. As of Monday afternoon, Fried wrote in a statement, Vice Chair Sean Rourk is in charge of the Palm Beach County party's governing board, the Democratic Executive Committee, pending the election of a new leader.

Koch was notified early February that she failed to meet deadlines for important documents, including campaign plans, a membership list and a budget, and that she needed to turn in documentation for reasons why certain members were removed by Sunday afternoon. In the suspension letter, Fried acknowledged that Koch turned in all documents except those pertaining to removing members, but also pointed at Koch’s inability to quell simmering disputes and tensions within the leadership and volunteer ranks.

“The removal of members and inability to find compromise within your membership have altogether created an environment that prohibits the DEC from being compliant and successful, and as State Chair it is my responsibility to intervene,” Fried wrote in a suspension notice.

Koch acknowledged the divisions within the Palm Beach County Democratic Party and noted that she won her election by one vote, and “that wasn't enough for some people to let me do my job and this suspension is the outgrowth of that division.”

“We'll all get to see how the DEC operates with novices in leadership,” Koch said.

On Wednesday, 15 party leaders, officials and others submitted a letter to Fried saying they were "dismayed" by her decision to boot Koch and asked the state party leader to reconsider.

The two-page letter defended Koch's leadership and blamed the "vile personal attacks" and "abuse" directed at her on "MAGA-left organizers" who have "unfortunately borrowed a page from the MAGA-right and utilized the same nastiness against our own Democratic leaders."

It concluded: "Given this atmosphere it's amazing that Chair Koch has been able lead a team to raise money, re-enroll over 80,000 vote by mail Democrats, start a youth outreach program, lead a successful pro-environmental vote by the PBC Commission to save the Agricultural Reserve, and do anything at all. She is to be commended, not suspended."

The next step is for a state party committee to vote on her permanent removal. A two-thirds vote is required to remove Koch from her post.

The state party said the committee vote has not been scheduled. Koch said Monday evening she believes the committee would meet in Orlando in about two months.

Fried said she wants a 'fully engaged' Palm Beach County Democratic Party

In her statement, Fried said that one of her first actions after taking over the reins of the Florida Democratic Party in 2023 was tasking an "assessment team" to review issues in local parties statewide, including in Palm Beach County.

The conflicts within the Palm Beach County party were well known.

In June, Fried visited the local party to assess and attempt to quell the friction within the Democratic Executive Committee. During Fried's visit, multiple volunteers and party leaders spoke out during a forum that discussed the various problems with the local party and particularly Koch's leadership.

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The points of concern included Koch's governing style and issues members had with the party's initial policy of in-person only meetings. Some who spoke also addressed what has been cited as a generational divide between older and younger members of the party and executive committee.

Fried listened to concerns from party leaders at that encounter and made recommendations to Koch, who had been elected chair in 2022, succeeding Terrie Rizzo. In particular, Fried charged Koch with reuniting the party ahead of the critical 2024 election year.

All told, the effort did not appear to succeed and Fried said in her statement a "fully engaged" Palm Beach County party is "vital."

"Candidates and elected officials rely on their local Democratic parties to register voters, mobilize volunteers and engage donors to support their efforts — and they are impacted the most when they are not working effectively — having Palm Beach Democrats fully engaged is vital to our mission to take back Florida," Fried said in a statement.

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Palm Beach County Democrats have one goal — to win Florida

Palm Beach County is particularly important for state Democrats who need this traditionally blue linchpin in order to win statewide races. In 2022, the county voted in favor of Gov. Ron DeSantis over Democratic opponent Charlie Crist, leading to a statewide landslide and raising concerns the county is losing its status as a blue bastion.

Fried said the stated goal this year is to bring Democratic wins to Florida and "too much is at stake to ignore the challenges we face in Palm Beach."

“Florida Democrats are serious about creating the infrastructure and party apparatus we need to take back our state, restore our rights and freedoms and re-elect Democrats all the way up the ticket. The country is counting on us," Fried said.

Stephany Matat is a politics reporter for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY-Florida network. Reach her at [email protected]. Support local journalism: Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Florida Democratic chief Nikki Fried suspends Palm Beach County chair Koch