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

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.

State Democratic Party officials issued Koch a compliance notice in early February after the local party, under her leadership, failed to meet deadlines in 2023 for submitting important document, including campaign plans, a membership list, meeting minutes and a budget. The deadline for turning in the documents, and bring the party into compliance, was Sunday afternoon.