Hey Democrat,
You hate the Delaware Democratic Party? Too “old boy” for you? Too moderate? Too (insert pet peeve here)___________?
Well now is the time step up or shut up.
This email from Rebecca lays out what is going down. You now have a voice in how the Delaware Democratic Party is going to be run. You can use it or lose it. (note: I have not blockquoted it make it easier to read.
Hey hey!
As you probably know, every four years the Democratic Party reorganizes itself after the presidential elections. We’ve seen the DNC select its new leader in Governor Kaine from Virginia, and we’ve all been watching to see what happens with the 50-state-strategy. Because our party won in November, the shape and policies at the national level will be largely determined by President Obama and
his campaign organization. That’s how it is. But, that’s a subject for another loooong post and we need to focus closer to home today.
Here in Delaware we are also reorganizing from the District Committee members up to the State Party Chair. There are approximately 1000 District Committee members divided among 41 Districts in Delaware — the Districts cover the same geographic areas as the State Representative Districts.
Democrats in all these districts have been meeting since January to elect two members from each Election District (other states call these precincts). While a few Committees are still working on this, for the most part this process is complete. You should be proud that Gemma Buckley is now Chairwoman of the 21st District Committee and Jennifer Thompson is now Chairwoman of the 24th District Committee. There are dozens of other PDDers serving on their committees in various officer positions and, in total, about 100 PDD members now serve on their District Committees. Huzzah!
The next step in the process is to elect Subdivision officers. The Delaware Democratic Party is divided into four Subdivisions — The City of Wilmington, New Castle County (not Wilmington), Kent County and Sussex County. Each of these Subdivisions will hold a convention some time in April to elect a Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Vice-Chairwoman, Secretary and Treasurer. These officers lead the Democrats in their subdivision and help deliver victory on Election Day.
New Castle County will hold its convention on April 22nd, (Wednesday) at 7:00 PM at the IBEW Union Hall on Basin Road in New Castle. The convention is open to all registered Democrats residing in New Castle County; however, only Committee Members will be allowed to vote for the new officers.
At last night’s New Castle County Executive Committee meeting several members announced their intention to run for office. They are: for Chairman, Erik Schramm; for Vice-Chairman, Ciro Poppiti; for Vice Chairwoman, Rebecca Young; for Secretary, Vikki Bandy; for Treasurer, “J.J.” Johnson. In addition to these self-nominated candidates, the Convention will recognize nominees from the floor on the night
of the election. Needless to say, I endorse the slate that was announced last night. These are all dedicated folks who will work hard. Did I mention these jobs are not remunerated? Despite what you read in Ron Williams’ column, these folks all volunteer their time for free.
Moving up the organization chart, the State Party is governed by the Delaware Democratic State Convention. Any Democrat who has been registered and resided in a given District for six months may self-nominate to be a delegate from that District to the State Convention. The delegates are elected by the members of the District Committee and serve a four-year term. All District Committees are required to elect their delegates by April 15th, no exceptions. If you wish to be a delegate you need to put your name in nomination at your District Committee Caucus. The schedule of Caucuses is on the DelDems website on the Events Calendar.
If you have any questions or need help with this please call me at
302-234-3364. Oh, if you cannot attend your District Caucus you may submit your nomination in writing to the District Committee Chair.
The Delaware Democratic State Convention will be held on May 16th, 2009. Registration opens at 8:00AM and the Convention will start at 10:00AM. The meeting will be held at Dover Downs Hotel on DuPont Hwy in Dover, Delaware. The main order of business will be to elect officers for the Delaware Democratic Party. There are seven positions open: Chairman, Vice Chairman, Vice Chairwoman, Secretary, Treasurer, and a Democratic National Committeeman and Democratic National Committeewoman. As I write this, no nominees have announced for any of these positions. Other items will be added to the agenda as we approach the date.
Once again, if you have any questions or need help with any of this please email me or call me.
Onward!
Rebecca