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In a special election in Florida, black leaders urged traditionally Democratic African-Americans to cast their ballot for the Republican candidate. Betty Ann Bowser reports the story.

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BETTY ANN BOWSER: Black leaders in Fort Lauderdale were busy trying to get other African-Americans out to the polls recently for a special election. There was nothing unusual about that, except they were urging these traditionally Democratic voters to cast their ballot for the Republican candidate.

MAN ON PHONE: We're calling to ask her to please remember to go out and vote today for Ms. Barktnoff, number 82.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: That's because of the anger that many in the African-American community feel toward the Democratic Party. Hundreds of people recently turned out for this town meeting in Miami to protest what a group of white Democratic leaders did to a black politician.

LEON RUSSELL, NAACP: We have been loyal. We have worked hard for the party. The removal of Willie Logan from this position was a removal of our spirit from this party.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: The center of all this attention is State Rep. Willy Logan, who was booted out of a top leadership position in the House Democratic Caucus two months ago.

WILLIE LOGAN, (D) State Representative: But I want you to know today what they did on January 7th, they did not realize they were doing, and that is they have rejuvenated me, re-energized me, and re-committed me to my people and to a cause that we will not let go.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: Logan has represented his district, just Northwest of Miami, for 16 years. For most of those years he enjoyed serving in the Democratic majority until 1996, when the Republican Party took control of both Houses. The following year Logan was elected speaker-designate of the House Democratic Caucus. It was the first time an African-American had ever held the position.

WILLIE LOGAN: It was a wonderful feeling, and it was a wonderful feeling because so many people had come together who that I have worked with over the years, who gave me good wishes and their blesses and prayers for success.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: But less than a year after being elected, 31 white Democrats hastily signed a petition to unseat him, without consulting the other 24 members of the Democratic Caucus. They replaced him with State Rep. Ann MacKenzie, a white woman. Representative Buzz Ritchie was a leader in the move to oust Logan. He says Logan spent too much time out of the state, didn't raise enough money for the party, and failed to show real leadership.

BUZZ RITCHIE, (D) State Representative: The majority of the members had come to me and expressed a lot of concerns over the last five or six months. Willie had, I think, disappointed a lot of the members, had not been committing as much time to responsibilities. So there were discussions regarding Willie Logan, and replacing him and getting somebody else to do the job.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: But Logan says from the very beginning, some white Democrats tried to undercut him.

WILLIE LOGAN: There were a group of conservative members of my caucus who were determined that I not be successful and would not participate in anything that would help me to be successful and at any opportunity would take their vantage to derail me. I think being an African-American was just part of it, how other people will react or perceive the Democratic Party having the African-American leader is a factor.

BUZZ RITCHIE: I knew he would play this card. I knew that this would be part of the debate. This is not about race. This is about leadership. This is about the commitment to make this job that he was elected to do his No. 1 priority.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: Logan's supporters reject that. Cynthia Chestnut is a state representative from Gainesville.

CYNTHIA CHESTNUT, (D) State Representative: Willie Logan raised money comparable to the amounts that had been raised by the previous two speaker-designates. Willie Logan walked door to door for many of the people that sat here and voted against him. He slept in their homes. He walked in their neighborhoods. He encouraged African-Americans to be the deciding factor in their races, and yet, when it came down to the point of actually supporting him on merit, they did not.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: Chestnut says what happened to Logan has been a wake-up call to her and other African-Americans. She says she's no longer going to carry the water for the Democratic Party.

CYNTHIA CHESTNUT: My mind is more open on issues, and I think that that's what's refreshing about what's happened is that we can operate as free agents. I think that it will offer me an opportunity to vote more freely on issues that I really feel very strongly about.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: 12 percent of registered voters in Florida are African-American, and most of them are registered Democrats. But at the town hall meetings, which the NAACP is holding all over the state, black voters are encouraged to be more independent when they go to the polls.

LEON RUSSELL: We're going to get out and we're going to register as many people as we can. We're going to get people out to the polls, and we're going to instruct them to vote based on their own interest.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: Republicans are eagerly taking advantage of the situation. Already, several have hosted fund-raisers for African-American lawmakers. And black Democrats have been receiving some other benefits. Rep. Chestnut's staff was busy unpacking bosses the first week of this legislative session because she had just been offered and accepted a new office and a committee leadership position from the Republican Majority, although for now she is remaining a Democrat. Representative Luis Rojas is a Cuban-American and one of the Republicans who have been reaching out to members of the Black Caucus.

LUIS ROJAS, (R) State Representative: It's being very blunt, taking advantage of opportunity. The African-Americans in Florida--some of them are very disturbed about what the white--what they perceive the white Democrats did to them, and there's opportunity there. They don't feel they have a home, a complete home in the Democratic Party. And if there are some people that can reach out to them and say you have a home with us, it's a political opportunity.

SPOKESMAN: Madam President, Governor Chiles.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: The Logan controversy comes as Democratic Governor Lawton Chiles begins his final year in office. Four years ago he narrowly won re-election, defeating Republican Jeb Bush by just 63,000 votes. Part of what gave Chiles the margin of victory was capturing 94 percent of the black vote. Jeb Bush is once again trying to win the governor's seat in November, and this time he is actively looking for support in the black community. Lucy Morgan is the Tallahassee bureau chief for the St. Petersburg Times.

LUCY MORGAN, St. Petersburg Times: We've seen Jeb Bush reaching out to the black community and getting a lot of response from some of them. He was endorsed here in this courtyard in the capital by a local black minister in ringing terms that I mean--that many of us thought we might never hear for any Republican. And I think we're going to see more of that as this alienation continues. And I don't see any overture for peace.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: Even Willie Logan has not ruled out the possibility of voting for Republican Bush.

WILLIE LOGAN: Jeb Bush has made it his business to talk to, communicate, and to attempt to identify issues that he can accept, that his party could accept to work with the black community. Thus far, the three Democratic candidates have failed to do that.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: Gov. Chiles declined the NewsHour's request for an interview. But Democrat State Party Chairwoman Terry Brady was anxious to talk. She said she's trying to reach out to black voters.

TERRY BRADY, Chairwoman, Democratic Party: I have gone to leaders in the African-American community. I've talked to them. I have asked them for input, and I just don't want input on paper. We're going to act on that, whether it's through policy, whether it's through additional outreach, or whether it's through one-on-one. What we also want to do is build a new avenue, a new venue for what else we can do to make it better. Okay. I don't believe anything should remain status quo.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: Brady says she regrets the friction that has been caused over the Logan issue, but she is confident the party will survive it.

DOUG SCHOEN, Democrat Pollster: The message of the poll today is that the Democratic Party is in a lot better shape than recent reports in the media would suggest.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: Democratic Pollster Doug Schoen told members of the Democratic Caucus that a new survey shows the party is not in trouble with African-American voters in Florida. When asked which party they most identified with, 88 percent of black voters said the Democratic Party.

DOUG SCHOEN: The fears that many of you would have about the events in the last few months certainly are not reflected in any concern by the people.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: Democratic Leader Ritchie thinks the Logan incident will blow over because, ultimately, African-Americans are not going to abandon the Democratic Party.

BUZZ RITCHIE: I do not believe the African-Americans can find a home in the Republican Party unless the Republican Party is willing to sell out their core constituents, which creates a whole other issue that you may be back here talking to me six months about, but it just can't happen.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: It's true that several members of the Black Caucus have endorsed Democratic candidates for governor, but to show how serious they are about not being taken for granted, black Democrats recently targeted two predominantly African-American precincts in a special state senate election. They wanted to defeat the Democrat, Steve Geller, one of the thirty-one who voted to oust Willie Logan. They were able to convince one half of the normally Democratic voters to cast their ballots for the Republican. She didn't win, but black leaders say they made their point.

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