State Democratic Executive Committee Update
While a lot of people were taking time to recover from the general election, there was a new wave of liberal political activists emerging in the wake of Trump’s unexpected victory. Within the Montgomery County Democratic Party, things never really slowed down for us. Post-November 8th, we held 2 senior leadership meetings within the Montgomery County Democratic Party before the end of 2017. We also had a special election in Senate District 4 to replace our recently relocated Committeeman, Michael Smith. This would turn out to be the beginning of a new chapter in my political life.
The special election to replace our former Committeeman happened just one week before the next State Democratic Executive Committee meeting in Austin. At this particular SDEC meeting, we had the privilege of getting to hear all of the candidates who are running for Chair of the Democratic National Committee. I was impressed by all of the candidates but it’s worth noting that a large number of Democrats outside of the SDEC showed up specifically to see Keith Ellison speak. While the large gallery of people wasn’t received warmly by everyone who attended at that meeting, I found their presence encouraging and inspiring. Whether you agree or disagree with Mr. Ellison, his support amongst progressive grassroots activists is something the Democratic Party should take note of.
Committee Assignments
This was the second State Democratic Executive Committee meeting of the current term, so it was also the first meeting that all of the individual committees within the SDEC met.
Rules Committee – was restructured in September to include three sub-committees tasked with specific items, the last two of which emerged from complaints about the 2016 Convention in San Antonio. Non-substantive Recodification of the Rules (“review, streamline and reorganize the current Rules to make them more efficient and easier to use”);
Convention Processes (“review all convention processes to make the convention run smoother and encourage the highest level of transparency and inclusion of all delegates in the process…[and] recommend rule changes on the schedule of events at the state convention to make it flow better and all for more participation by delegate in all facets of the affair”);
Delegate Selection Review (“review delegate selection processes…a. Overall selection process; b. Affirmative Action Goals and how they are determined and met; c. Role of the Convention delegates vs. the Presidential candidate and their campaigns; d. Specific processes, timelines for meetings and interaction with presidential campaigns of the Nominations Committee for At-Large Delegates during the State Convention”).
A fourth was announced at the December meeting, one dealing with Substantive Changes to the Rules. Very little information was announced at the meeting about this subcommittee.
Messaging Committee – Has two subcommittees:
Message Delivery Subcommittee: “The Message Delivery Subcommittee ensures that the SDEC explores new avenues to deliver the party’s message to base voters. The committee is responsible for encouraging Democrats and allies to produce Letters to the Editor, assist in Social Media Amplification of the party’s message, and expand the Press Lists available to the state party and candidates.”
Message Discipline Subcommittee: “The message discipline subcommittee is responsible for creating constructive dialogues with allies, clubs, campaigns, and local party organizations to make sure Democrats stick to key messages that drive out the vote and mobilize the base. Members should be keeping Democrats on message and promoting talking points to Democratic influencers.”
Base Voters Committee:
This Committee and its subcommittees are tasked with “develop[ing] a campaign plan to begin in spring of 2017 through the general election of 2018. Goals of the plan: 1) Create programmatic things to enhance turnout within the constituency; 2) Plan on how to develop local leadership and volunteer capacity for the constituency; 3) Develop constituency based and culturally sensitive messaging on voter participation; 4) Develop a finance plan and activities to raise the money needed to effectuate the plan; 5) Plan and execute constituency based voter registration programs.”
I will be serving on the LGBTQ, Youth, and Election Officials subcommittees.
Elections Processes – “The committee will review current statutes and regulations and make recommendations to the staff for legislative matters to improve electoral processes. The Committee will outline specific data driven programs to increase voter registration, vote by mail participation, administration of primaries, and selection and training of election workers for 2018.” It has four sub committees, one for each topic listed.
Coordinated Campaign Committee: This committee exists to strategize ways to recruit, train, and support Democratic candidates for office up and down the ballot; work to strengthen county parties in partnership with the state Party; and promote a 2018 Coordinated Campaign for our slate of candidates. I will be serving on this committee.
Legislative Affairs – A committee on the whole, it will feature “a working subcommittee of SDEC members and County chairs to work on elections issues. The Chair will ask for folks to volunteer to be a lead executive committee person for each policy topic area. We will divide into whatever working groups become necessary during the session.”
I’ll be serving in the area of Health and Human Services with a specific focus in improving the ease of access to healthcare and mental healthcare services.
Working Within Senate District 4
One of my goals as your Committeeman is to provide a more reliable connection between what goes on at the state level and what you do in your individual county parties. The Texas Democratic Party is working aggressively to expand its ability to provide support to county parties across the state. There are numerous candidate training events coming up in January and February. In March, the TDP will start its activist trainings. These will be a mix of webinars and in-person events. Mary Hamm and I plan to expand on these activist and candidate trainings to host them at various locations within Senate District 4. The plan is for them to become a regular occurrence going forward. Right now, we are specifically looking into doing a Senate District 4 Summit that would include candidate training, activist training, voter registration certification and a few other things. Additionally, we are looking at doing a Senate District 4 newsletter that would include specific details and write-ups of what is happening within the SDEC.
Outside of that, I have your various Party meetings and events on my calendar and plan to attend as many of them as possible. As your representatives on the SDEC, I am here to help you and your county parties in any way that I can. Do you have an idea for something that hasn’t been mentioned? Let me know. You can reach me anytime via my cell or by email. I want to hear from you. The only way we can reform and improve the Democratic Party is if everyone is all-in. So let’s start 2017 with our boots on the ground ready to get work done.
Griffin Winkworth
Senate District 4 Committeeman
Griffin.Winkworth@Gmail.com
(936) 520-0538
