Annette Taddeo

Annette Taddeo is the Democratic candidate in the 2008 congressional elections for the 18th Congressional District (map) of Florida. She won in primary elections which took place on August 26, 2008.

Bio
Taddeo is a business owner.

She is Founder and C.E.O of LanguageSpeak, a comprehensive language services company that offers translations, conference interpretation, and private tutoring in over 100 languages. Among the company’s clients are firms such as Citigroup, Humana, New York Life, ING, Office Depot, Rooms To Go, Tiffany & Co., and Nordstrom’s.

Taddeo was selected by the Small Business Administration as the 2005 Minority Business Champion of the Year. She is the Past-Chairman, Secretary, and Treasurer of the Coalition of Dade-County Chambers of Commerce (a coalition of 22 separate Chambers of Commerce), as well as Past Chairman of the Women’s Chamber of Commerce of Miami-Dade County.

She has served in executive positions on many boards and chambers, including the Board of Directors of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, the Executive Committee of the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce, and the Board of Directors of the Beacon Council, Miami-Dade’s official economic development partnership. Annette is the immediate-past Chair of the Women’s Enterprise National Council’s Leadership Forum. She is also a national founding partner and serves on the Executive Board of WIPP (Women Impacting Public Policy).

Taddeo was honored with the “Latina Excellence Award” from Hispanic Magazine, which also named her as one of the “Top 50 Latina Entrepreneurs in the US.” She has been named “Businesswoman of the Year” by Camacol, the South Florida Business Journal, Office Depot, and Women in International Trade.

Taddeo is politically active. In 2004, she served as National Co-Chair of Businesswomen for Kerry and Co-Chair of Mujeres con Kerry. She appeared on numerous Spanish radio and TV interviews representing the Democratic Party. In 2005, she became a member of the Democratic National Committee’s Business Council.

During the 2008 election cycle, Annette Taddeo raised more than $1.3 million dollars in eight months as the Democratic nominee for Congress in South Florida’s 18th District. Taddeo received more than 100,000 votes, a record for a Democrat against 19-year incumbent Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, and would have been the first member of Congress of South American descent.

The only Latina challenger in a federal race in 2008, Taddeo earned endorsements from a broad cross-section of groups, including the DCCC Red to Blue Program, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus’s BOLDPAC, the AFL-CIO, EMILY’s List, HILLPAC, netroots giants Orange to Blue and Blue America, PODER PAC, the National Jewish Democratic Council, NAWBO, and more.

Annette Taddeo received a Bachelors of Arts degree from the University of North Alabama and completed two Executive Education programs at the Tuck school of Business at Dartmouth. Ms. Taddeo is married to Dr. Eric Goldstein, a Clinical Psychologist & Motivational Speaker. She has twin 18-year old step-daughters and a 2- year old daughter. Taddeo and her husband belong to Beth David Congregation, where Annette has previously served on the Board.

2008 elections
Taddeo won the Democratic nomination to challenge Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) in the 2008 congressional elections.

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Campaign contributions
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Committees
Taddeo will be assigned committees if and when she is elected to Congress.

Campaign Contact Information
Phone: 305-661-6499 Mailing Address: PO Box 565388 Miami, Florida 33256

External resources

 * 2008 Race Tracker page on Florida's 18th Congressional District
 * Division of Elections- Florida Department of State website
 * Official Annette Taddeo for Congress website