Like many other Democrats, Todd Delmay was taken aback when Dania Beach Rep. Hillary Cassel switched her party affiliation to Republican shortly after winning re-election in House District 101 last year.
He’s now again running to unseat her and rectify what he considers a betrayal of voters in the Broward County district.
“For too long, politicians have put their own ambitions ahead of the people they were elected to serve,” Delmay said in a statement.
“Voters in District 101 deserve a leader who will never betray their trust. I will be a steadfast advocate for the issues that matter to South Florida families — lowering costs, protecting reproductive freedom, and standing up for every community that calls this district home.”
A Hollywood resident, Delmay works today as Executive Director of SAVE, Florida’s longest-running LGTBQ civil rights organization. He and his husband Jeff played a pivotal role in the fight for marriage equality in the Sunshine State, both as plaintiffs to a monumental lawsuit and later as one of the six first same-sex couples in Florida to be legally wed in January 2015.
He then chaired the Board of Prideline, led the SMART Ride nonprofit to raise funds and awareness for AIDS service organizations and served as President of the Dolphin Democrats.
His other community involvements include working as the area director for Business Network International (BNI) in Broward and an ex-officio Board member for the Greater Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.
Delmay, 53, holds an MBA from Strayer University and worked for more than two decades as President and CEO of the Delmay Corporation, a hospitality business headquartered in Hollywood.
This isn’t his first bid for state office, nor is it his first attempt at supplanting Cassel. He challenged her in 2022 but lost in the Democratic Primary by less than 6 percentage points.
He expects a better result next year, arguing that voters can’t trust Cassel, who previously switched from Republican to Democrat in 2017, only to flip back after November’s red wave delivered to the GOP supermajorities in both chambers of the Legislature.
“I’ve heard from progressives, moderates, and conservatives in the district, and they all agree on one thing: my opponent is everything they hate about politics,” he said. “She is someone who switched parties twice to benefit her own political career and ambitions instead of working on the issues that people really care about like fighting against inflation and creating job opportunities, standing up to insurance companies driving up costs, or ensuring our schools get the funding they need.”
HD 101 covers parts of Dania Beach, Hallandale Beach and Hollywood and leans blue, with 42,963 registered Democrats, 40,956 third- or no-party voters and 30,310 Republicans.
So far, only Cassel and Delmay are in the race.
The 2026 Primary is on Aug. 18, followed by the General Election on Nov. 3.
Post Views: 0
