By Dessalines Ferdinand
Many political observers believe that without the endorsement of Jean Patrick Maignan, longtime social worker Marleine Bastien would not have been able to defeat sitting North Miami Mayor Philippe Bien-Aimé in the race to replace term-limit commissioner Jean Monestime for the District 2 seat on Miami-Dade County Commission.
Not only does Bien-Aimé have ‘name recognition’ in the South Florida political arena as former North Miami Councilman, vice-Mayor and sitting mayor, but his campaign was heavy funded, collecting more than 2 million dollars, and he also received the endorsement of many well-known elected officials in the region.
While Commissioner-elect Marleine Bastien has recognized that her victory is a team effort, and many people made her winning possible, however the phenomenal work done by Patrick Maignan during the campaign period is immeasurable. As Bastien’s campaign manager, Jean Michel Brulan deserves credit. The contributions of Maxo Sinal whose firm, Sinal Consulting Group, LLC, was hired by the candidate to do some statistical work, which proved critical to her success. However, by the same token, when we know that Maxo Sinal lost many races for which his firm was hired in the past years, including Erlande Steril for Florida House Rep District 108 in 2016, Wancito Francius for Florida House Rep District 107 in 2021, and also Michael McDearmaid for North Miami Council District 2 in 2021, many doubted that this duo would be enough to push Bastien to the run-off.
It is a fact that Patrick Maignan is the architect who designed the campaign master plan for candidate Marleine Bastien to win the District 2 race. From day one he embraced Bastien’s campaign, observers noticed that the candidate started getting momentum despite a lack of financial support.
Maignan as a campaign adviser to Bastien had a transforming effect on how election functions in the Haitian Community. His grand vision, complex strategies, and knockdown tactics exceeded everything dreamed up by any candidate who wanted to succeed. Even some close supporters of Philippe Bien-Aimé recognized that Maignan is very good at what he does when it comes to election campaigning, to the point they believe that the ‘soon to be former mayor’ was defeated not exactly by Marleine Bastien, but rather by Maignan and his unique communication skills.
Those who are close to Maignan will tell you that his arsenal of skills include an ability to analyze and act under unexpected circumstances with day-to-day strategies. He also has the ability to simultaneously manage a mid- and long-term strategy. Nothing is without a plan. No detail is too small. All eventualities are considered.
“The fact he is good at playing chess, this helps him develop the skills to exercise logic, develop pattern recognition, make decisions analytically,” said Patrick Charles about his longtime friend. “You can only get good at chess if you love the game. Patchouko is passionate about politics, that why he always delivers good results when he takes part at a campaign.”
“Patchouko is a man of his word. I remember he told Naomi Blemur that he will help her go to the run-off for the Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumers Services race, but he could not guarantee that she will beat her Republican opponent who is financially strong, because after the primary period he was going to focus exclusively on helping Marleine win against Bien-Aimé. He will need to dedicate a lot of time to that campaign,” recalled Charles.
The way Maignan has brought up some ‘dirty’ initiatives taken by Bien-Aimé as Mayor to attack him was a masterpiece of political art. No subject used to attack Bien-Aimé candidature was not chosen without prodigious planning and meticulous execution. In other words, people in the South Florida political arena should know that the exquisite feast of an election prepared by Jean Patrick Maignan is the product of many, many months, sometime years.
Bien-Aimé’s sexual harassment accusation settlement paid by the city, NoMi Wildcat Center leasing option scandal, the ton of money received by his campaign from well-known developers to eventually support their projects as Commissioner, his choice to vacate his unfinished mayoral term to run for a county seat, are among many subjects Maignan chose to show Bien-Aimé’s as someone who said he was working for his community, but didn’t.
Speaking to Le Floridien about the nonprofit executive victory, Maignan said, “This was a commitment I made to Marleine years ago while we were in Washington, DC during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Annual Legislative. Marleine deserves the community reward. I remember I told Marleine I will support her if she runs for Monestime’s seat. I will work on a campaign plan for her. And if we work hard enough to make it to the run-off, potentially with Philippe Bien-Aimé as an opponent, I guaranteed that we would beat him.”
“A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making progress within a specific group.” explained Maignan. “The three core voting factors focused on in research are class, gender and religion. The choice was crystal clear between Bien-Aimé who represents the interests of the financial elite and Bastien, who has been fighting the last for decades on behalf of those in need.”
When pointing out to the ‘Architect’ that money is indispensable in American electoral campaigns, that, without it, candidates cannot amplify their message to reach voters and it’s harder to motivate people to take interest and vote. Based on spending, Bien-Aimé should have won the race with the more than $2 million dollars he had for his campaign, Maignan replied, “Yes, money is very important for a candidate to win an election. Usually the winner is whoever gets the most money to spread a lot of ads to reach out to voters, control the message and dominate the game in perpetuity. However, a good political strategist with excellent communication skills can challenge the money game by creating sufficient doubt about the well-funded candidate’s ideas. I always support the underdog. I helped Monestime get elected 12 years ago to make political history when many said it was impossible for him to beat late incumbent Dorrin D. Rolle. This year, with hard work and determination, I was able to help Marleine become the first female to represent the constituents of Miami-Dade County District 2 in Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners, and I am so proud of that.”
A big supporter of Bien-Aimé, who talked to Le Floridien anonymously agrees that Maignan has good communication skills to bolster his candidate Marleine Bastien. “Yes, as Mayor, Bien-Aimé is not one hundred percent politically correct, he made mistakes, however he is not the lousy politician. Bien-Aimé outspent Bastien with ads, but a barrage of critical attacks thrown by Maignan against him, particularly on the radio, moved some of his supporters and undecided voters to consider their Bastien choice. In fact, many did; enough to elect Bastien.”
Despite Bien-Aimé received some powerful endorsements and big financial support, but he failed in his political effort to reach the county level. Yes, Marleine Bastien’s victory is the result of a collective effort of the Haitian community base. However, Maignan is the one who energized her campaign, with stronger grassroots work performance. Without his relentless attacks against Bien-Aimé on the radio from the beginning and other perhaps unknown strategies, chances were for Bastien to not even make it to the run-off.
To quote the great political philosopher (actually, a musician), Cyndi Lauper, “Money changes everything.” And nowhere is that proverb more apropos than in a general election, where billions of dollars are raised and spent on the assumption that money is a crucial determinant of whether or not a candidate will win.
There is a strong association between campaign spending and political success. Records show that more than 90 percent of candidates who spend the most have won in past elections. From 2000 through 2016, there was only one election cycle where that wasn’t true: 2010. “In that election, 86 percent of the top spenders won,” said Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan research group that tracks campaign fundraising and spending.
It is fair to say that in 2022, at least one local election (Bien-Aimé vs Bastien) held in South Florida defied this rule. And the strategist behind this failure is none other than Jean Patrick Maignan. Maignan’s success in the Bastien case is a reminder that money is necessary for a candidate to be competitive, but it doesn’t ensure success. If voters do not like what they are hearing about a well-funded candidate, telling them more of the same well-articulated type of messages, change are they will change their opinion.
Patrick Maignan has established himself as a political power in South Florida’s Haitian Community. His ability to orchestrate the optimal message for wonderful candidates highlights that, although money wins more often than not, reaching the people with a clear, understandable message can win out.
American politics has always been a dirty game, filled with money pouring through the cracks and crevices of each election. However, the people -citizens like you and me- still hold the true power; the power to elect someone to office or to say, ‘No, thank you.’ People like Patrick Maignan help give that power back to us, and we should be grateful.
The closer we pay attention to each candidate, the more we listen to what they say, what they do, and what they’ve done in the past, the less influence big money donors will have, but it’s up to us, the citizens that control the future. It’s our responsibility, and understanding the important role people like Mr. Maignan play, the more influence we’ll have over the direction our community, city, county, state, and nation moves.
Dessalines Ferdinand
ferdinand@lefloridien.com