Artiles let the pejoratives fly during a private conversation Monday in the members-only Governors Club. | AP Photo After offensive comment, Miami state senator fends off calls for resignation, condemnation State Sen. Frank Artiles will apologize to full Florida Senate on Wednesday.

TALLAHASSEE — A Miami state senator is fending off calls for his resignation, a possible Florida Senate complaint and the condemnation of fellow Republicans after he oddly referred to six white colleagues as the N-word during a heated discussion with a black lawmaker, one of whom who he called a “bitch.”

As pressure mounts, state Sen. Frank Artiles plans to formally apologize to the entire Florida Senate on Wednesday and ask for forgiveness. He apologized Tuesday evening — after his alcohol-fueled racist language the night before was reported to Republican leadership, and the Miami Herald and Florida Times-Union began asking questions.


Artiles insists he is not a bigot and noted that he used the phrase to refer to white GOP senators, not blacks.

“It was a slang term, and I am not a racist,” Artiles, who is Cuban-American, told POLITICO Florida via text message. “I am not a racist.”

Republican leaders — sensitive to charges of racism after last year’s brutal presidential race — were privately horrified with Artiles’ comments but initially held their tongues until he came to realize he needed to do more to make amends.

Artiles let the pejoratives fly during a private conversation Monday in the members-only Governors Club, where he was complaining about what he sees as the failed leadership of Senate President Joe Negron, who was not moving enough Republican legislation event though Republicans outnumber Democrats 25-15 in the chamber.

“Joe Negron is a pussy,” Artiles told Democratic senators Audrey Gibson of Jacksonville and Perry Thurston of Fort Lauderdale. “Things are running the way they are because of the six [N-word} who put him there.”

Thurston and Gibson are black. Gibson was stunned silent at first. And Thurston, who leads the legislative black caucus, told POLITICO Florida that he couldn’t believe what he heard.

“Excuse me?” Thurston said he responded to Artiles at the time. “Did you just say ‘niggers?’ Am I hearing that right?”

“No,” Artiles replied. “I said ‘niggas.’”

Artiles then explained it was OK because, though he now represents the Kendall area, he’s originally from Hialeah, the large Hispanic-heavy working class city in Miami-Dade County. At one point, he told her she should stop acting like a “bitch.”

“OK, Perry, I’m done,’” Gibson told Thurston, according to the Miami Herald. She soon stormed out.

Thurston told Artiles he should apologize and arranged a meeting the following morning, Tuesday. But Artiles didn’t show. He said he had bills to present. He later acknowledged it was a mistake to miss out on the meeting.

“In an exchange with a colleague of mine in the Senate, I unfortunately let my temper get the best of me,” Artiles said in a statement released Tuesday evening. “There is no excuse for the exchange that occurred and I have apologized to my Senate colleagues and regret the incident profusely.”

Thurston said the black caucus will decide on Wednesday whether to call for his resignation or file a complaint with the Rules Committee accusing him of unbecoming conduct. The Democratic caucus — led by Miami Gardens state Sen. Oscar Braynon, who is also African-American — will make a similar choice.

Under the “legislative conduct” section of the Senate rules, lawmakers are told that “every Senator shall conduct himself or herself to justify the confidence placed in him or her by the people and, by personal example and admonition to colleagues, shall maintain the integrity and responsibility of his or her office.”

As social media attention intensified, The Miami Herald reported that Artiles was recorded using the term “hajis” – an anti-Muslim slur used by many U.S. soldiers. Also, Democratic state Rep. Carlos G. Smith knocked Artiles for once sponsoring bill limiting transgender people from using restrooms of their choice.

“After apologizing for his racist comments, he should apologize to the transgender community for his bigotry + transphobia,” Smith tweeted.

The Florida Democratic Party and Florida Strong, a liberal advocacy group, called for Artiles' resignation. But the Republican Party of Florida’s chairman, state Rep. Blaise Ingoglia, wouldn’t follow suit.

“That’s a decision he’s going to have to make. It’s not my job as chair to say what somebody should or should not do. That is a personal decision between him and the constituents he represents,” Ingoglia told POLITICO Florida. "It was truly an unfortunate statement. I think that it was not obviously the best wording or phrasing. He has apologized, which I think is the right thing to do. Using words like that, even in jest or in joking, shouldn’t be tolerated. It should be taken seriously. He’s apologized and the rest is between him and his constituents."

Senate President Negron, who initially issued a written statement saying he thought the matter “has been resolved by the Senators involved,” later made a more pointed statement on Tuesday night in an email to media outlets.

“I was appalled to hear that one Senator would speak to another in such an offensive and reprehensible manner. My first priority was to ensure that this matter was promptly addressed between the two Senators involved, which occurred this evening,” Negron said. “Racial slurs and profane, sexist insults have no place in conversation between Senators and will not be tolerated while I am serving as Senate President. Senator Artiles has requested a point of personal privilege at the beginning of tomorrow’s sitting, during which he intends to formally apologize to Senator Gibson on the Senate Floor.”

And the Senate’s Republican leader, Wilton Simpson, said that “what has been reported is completely and totally unacceptable and is not befitting of a member of the Florida Senate. We cannot support this hateful language. It is simply not acceptable.”

This isn’t the first time Artiles — a hulking former U.S. Marine — has lost his cool.

In 2015, he was accused of punching a college student in the face at Clyde’s & Costello’s, a bar right next to the Governors Club. Artiles neither confirmed nor denied it, but one colleague years later referenced it on the House floor and suggested he should use a punching bag to get out his aggression.

This also isn’t the first time a Republican lawmaker from Hialeah has been caught using racist language. In 2006, then Hialeah state Rep. Ralph Arza repeatedly referred to Miami-Dade County’s schools chief as a “black piece of s---.” Arza initially denied the claim. But then, after a fellow Republican filed a House rules complaint against him, a drunken Arza and a relative repeatedly called the representative’s phone in a threatening way and left messages on his voice mail.

“Ain’t nothin but a bitch,” Arza repeatedly said. “God bless you, bitch. My [N-word].”

Black lawmakers were outraged. Democrats said they would stage a walkout to protest then House Speaker Marco Rubio, who had appointed Arza to a leadership post. Arza was promptly booted out of Rubio’s inner circle.

The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s office charged Arza with witness tampering and he eventually pleaded guilty to the charge, agreed not to run for reelection and agreed to probation.

Unlike Arza, Artiles owned up to the error — albeit not quickly enough for Democrats.

Braynon, the Democrats’ leader, said the problem with Artiles’ use of the N-word is that it was meant pejoratively.

“You shouldn’t say it,” Braynon said. “You shouldn’t say it about whites. You shouldn’t say it about African-Americans. Everyone knows this.”

Braynon’s designated successor, state Sen. Jeff Clemens of Lake Worth, said the matter “certainly warrants a referral or complaint to the rules committee. He should seriously consider whether or not he wants to continue serving in the Florida Senate.”

Artiles won his seat last year after unseating Dwight Bullard, a black Miami Democrat and public high school teacher whose re-election campaign efforts were bolstered by a whopping $825,000 from the Florida Education Association.

Artiles’ friends in the Legislature privately said they didn’t know how he could survive this latest error in the hot-house environment of Miami’s racially diverse electorate.

At the least, a friend said, Artiles should lay off the booze even though he’s not a heavy drinker.

“Frank and alcohol don’t mix,” one fellow Republican said.

While the comments were surprising and offensive, some African-American Democrats weren’t ready to call for any more punitive measures against Artiles.

"It was not nice, nor professional, what he said, but he has apologized profusely,” said Democratic state Sen. Darryl Rouson. “I regret that it ever happened because I have the world of respect for senators Thurston and Gibson, and they don’t deserve those kinds of accusations. Even in jest it wasn’t funny.”

POLITICO Florida reporters Daniel Ducassi and Jessica Bakeman contributed to this story.