ANOTHER CONVENTION REPORT:
(I'm posting this here so that everyone can see it, even though it was addressed just to Democrats of Senate District 16 in Dallas County, as a report from their re-elected incumbent SDEC members, Dr. Theresa Daniel and former Dallas County Chair Ken Molberg.)
Dear 16th District Democrats:
We are excited to bring you this report of last weekend's State Convention activities. Thanks to all of you who were present in Fort Worth, and for those who could not attend this convention, we'll see you in 2008 and before, at the many campaign events on the agenda.
Once again, the 16th Senatorial District was well represented. We should all be proud that our level of activism is virtually unmatched statewide on the senate district level. We are trying to get final confirmation, but it seems that our district may have had the best participation in the state at the senate district level, and the same is true at the state convention level. The 16th also gave substantial support to the traditional Blue Star Breakfast, as it has in the past. Close to 100 of you purchased your stars to help defray convention expenses. You are a great group of Democrats.
At our Friday senate district caucus, the delegation elected the following individuals to serve on convention committees to represent the 16th: Pauline Dixon (Credentials); Suzanne Wills (Platform); Meridell Templeton (Resolutions); Shannon Bailey (Rules); and David Bradley (Nominations). Pat Tharp was elected to head the District Tabulations Team, and he was joined by Crispin Reedy, Joseph Joiner, Carlos Aguilar and Goldye Levi. These folks deserve our thanks for their hard work in performing a difficult and tedious job.
Ken Molberg and Theresa Daniel were thereafter elected to represent the district on the State Democratic Executive Committee (SDEC), and they were then named by the State Party Chair to chair the permanent convention committees on Nomination and Rules, respectively. Tom Blackwell was appointed by the Chair to serve on the Permanent Platform Committee and, courtesy of Tom, the Platform may be found at this link. Congratulations also go to Shannon Bailey of our district who was re-elected President of the Stonewall Democrats of Texas and will, as a result, also serve on the SDEC. And, finally, we apologize if we have omitted anyone or got it wrong in any respect.
Friday evening on the floor, there was a roll call vote for permanent convention chair. Bob Slagle of Grayson County defeated Ted Weisgal of Harris County by a vote of 4,425 to 1,386. Our district supported Bob Slagle, 83-8. Various other convention officers were named or elected Friday night or Saturday morning, including Ken Molberg as General Legal Counsel of the convention.
Saturday was a big day: the much-awaited race for Chair of the Texas Democratic Party. Four candidates were nominated by the Nominations Committee: Boyd Richie (Young County), Glen Maxey (Travis County), Charlie Urbina-Jones (Bexar County) and LaKesha Rogers (Harris County). No one received a majority of the convention's votes on the first ballot. Our district cast the following vote the first time around: Richie, 103; Maxey, 75; Urbina-Jones, 8; and Rogers, 0. In the runoff between Richie and Maxey, our district voted in favor of Richie, 103.56 to 82.42. Boyd Richie was elected to chair the Texas Democratic Party on a convention vote of 3,415 to 2,987.
Both Boyd and Glen ran masterful campaigns, and this was truly one for the books. We had not had a seriously contested race for chair since 1980, when Bob Slagle defeated Luther Jones of El Paso. Glen wasted no time in offering his public support to Boyd in an effort to achieve victory in November, and the other two candidates quickly followed suit. For a comprehensive analysis of the State Party Chair vote this year, go to Dallas's own Kirk McPike’s post at Burnt Orange Report. Other permanent Party Officers elected at the convention on Saturday were: Roy Laverne Brooks of Tarrant County (Vice-Chair); Dennis Speight of Travis County (Vice-Chair for Finance); Victor Garza of Hidalgo County (Treasurer); and Ruby Jensen of Harris County (Secretary).
During the course of the convention, we heard numerous invigorating speeches from elected officials and candidates. Two of the best "red meat" entrees were from David Van Os and Glen Maxey. The showpiece speech on Friday night was by our Democratic gubernatorial nominee Chris Bell, the only candidate of substance in the race for governor. You can see a number of the speeches by going to this page and clicking on the appropriate link.
This convention was also marked by the advent and institutionalization of the blogging community in the convention proceess, via the Texas Progressive Democratic Webloggers and the Bloggers' Caucus, a samplimg of which you can see at former Dallas County Democratic Party Chair Bill Howell's StoutDemBlog. These bloggers, like Bill, have spread Party information and the Democratic message far and wide, and they have now become a central part of our political process. And while you're clicking around, make sure you sign up for important notices from the Dallas County Democratic Party at this page. The DCDP Web site also contains many good links to reports about the convention.
What are some things you can you do for Democratic victory?
We leave you with two important thoughts that were the themes of the speeches of our two leading candidates for State Party Chair last weekend: "Ya basta!" as Glen Maxey said. We've had enough of Republican greed, corruption, lies, neglect and indifference. But only by coming together and working as a team can we succeed in ridding this County, State and Nation of the Republican menace. As Party Chair Boyd Richie reminded us, "It's about 'we', not 'me'."
Democratically, and with thanks to you all,
Ken Molberg & Theresa Daniel
State Democratic Committee Members
Senate District 16, Dallas
P.S. Lost and Found: A pair of glasses and a book were found abandoned in our district. Contact Theresa about them.
(I'm posting this here so that everyone can see it, even though it was addressed just to Democrats of Senate District 16 in Dallas County, as a report from their re-elected incumbent SDEC members, Dr. Theresa Daniel and former Dallas County Chair Ken Molberg.)
Dear 16th District Democrats:
We are excited to bring you this report of last weekend's State Convention activities. Thanks to all of you who were present in Fort Worth, and for those who could not attend this convention, we'll see you in 2008 and before, at the many campaign events on the agenda.
Once again, the 16th Senatorial District was well represented. We should all be proud that our level of activism is virtually unmatched statewide on the senate district level. We are trying to get final confirmation, but it seems that our district may have had the best participation in the state at the senate district level, and the same is true at the state convention level. The 16th also gave substantial support to the traditional Blue Star Breakfast, as it has in the past. Close to 100 of you purchased your stars to help defray convention expenses. You are a great group of Democrats.
At our Friday senate district caucus, the delegation elected the following individuals to serve on convention committees to represent the 16th: Pauline Dixon (Credentials); Suzanne Wills (Platform); Meridell Templeton (Resolutions); Shannon Bailey (Rules); and David Bradley (Nominations). Pat Tharp was elected to head the District Tabulations Team, and he was joined by Crispin Reedy, Joseph Joiner, Carlos Aguilar and Goldye Levi. These folks deserve our thanks for their hard work in performing a difficult and tedious job.
Ken Molberg and Theresa Daniel were thereafter elected to represent the district on the State Democratic Executive Committee (SDEC), and they were then named by the State Party Chair to chair the permanent convention committees on Nomination and Rules, respectively. Tom Blackwell was appointed by the Chair to serve on the Permanent Platform Committee and, courtesy of Tom, the Platform may be found at this link. Congratulations also go to Shannon Bailey of our district who was re-elected President of the Stonewall Democrats of Texas and will, as a result, also serve on the SDEC. And, finally, we apologize if we have omitted anyone or got it wrong in any respect.
Friday evening on the floor, there was a roll call vote for permanent convention chair. Bob Slagle of Grayson County defeated Ted Weisgal of Harris County by a vote of 4,425 to 1,386. Our district supported Bob Slagle, 83-8. Various other convention officers were named or elected Friday night or Saturday morning, including Ken Molberg as General Legal Counsel of the convention.
Saturday was a big day: the much-awaited race for Chair of the Texas Democratic Party. Four candidates were nominated by the Nominations Committee: Boyd Richie (Young County), Glen Maxey (Travis County), Charlie Urbina-Jones (Bexar County) and LaKesha Rogers (Harris County). No one received a majority of the convention's votes on the first ballot. Our district cast the following vote the first time around: Richie, 103; Maxey, 75; Urbina-Jones, 8; and Rogers, 0. In the runoff between Richie and Maxey, our district voted in favor of Richie, 103.56 to 82.42. Boyd Richie was elected to chair the Texas Democratic Party on a convention vote of 3,415 to 2,987.
Both Boyd and Glen ran masterful campaigns, and this was truly one for the books. We had not had a seriously contested race for chair since 1980, when Bob Slagle defeated Luther Jones of El Paso. Glen wasted no time in offering his public support to Boyd in an effort to achieve victory in November, and the other two candidates quickly followed suit. For a comprehensive analysis of the State Party Chair vote this year, go to Dallas's own Kirk McPike’s post at Burnt Orange Report. Other permanent Party Officers elected at the convention on Saturday were: Roy Laverne Brooks of Tarrant County (Vice-Chair); Dennis Speight of Travis County (Vice-Chair for Finance); Victor Garza of Hidalgo County (Treasurer); and Ruby Jensen of Harris County (Secretary).
During the course of the convention, we heard numerous invigorating speeches from elected officials and candidates. Two of the best "red meat" entrees were from David Van Os and Glen Maxey. The showpiece speech on Friday night was by our Democratic gubernatorial nominee Chris Bell, the only candidate of substance in the race for governor. You can see a number of the speeches by going to this page and clicking on the appropriate link.
This convention was also marked by the advent and institutionalization of the blogging community in the convention proceess, via the Texas Progressive Democratic Webloggers and the Bloggers' Caucus, a samplimg of which you can see at former Dallas County Democratic Party Chair Bill Howell's StoutDemBlog. These bloggers, like Bill, have spread Party information and the Democratic message far and wide, and they have now become a central part of our political process. And while you're clicking around, make sure you sign up for important notices from the Dallas County Democratic Party at this page. The DCDP Web site also contains many good links to reports about the convention.
What are some things you can you do for Democratic victory?
- First, secure your precinct for the Democratic ticket. Contact your Democratic voters to insure the most committed are active in the campaign and that all of them vote in November. A phone call and precinct letter from you will markedly enhance our Democratic turnout. It's even better if you can add a walk program to the mix and work to create an e-mail list of the Democrats in your precinct. If you are not familiar with how to acquire data for your precinct, call Ken, Theresa or the Party Office and they will tell you how. Indeed, Walter Hofheinz of our district is a true guru on this.
- Second, volunteer for a campaign. The list of candidates and how to get hold of them is at www.dallasdemocrats.org. There are never enough hands, feet or voices.
- Third, offer your services to the Dallas County Democratic Party. Call (214-821-8331) or get on the Party Web site. There is a need for volunteers to answer the phones and perform tasks such as researching issues with the Issues Committee. Contact the Party office or Theresa for more information about other tasks that offer opportunities to put your talents to good use through the DCDP Advisory Committee. Our County Chair, Darlene Ewing, along with Steve Tillery, our executive director, have been doing a great job, but like any Chair and any ED, they need our help.
- Fourth, work with neighborhood clubs or issues groups. Check out www.dallasdemocrats.org for a complete listing of groups in the County and their contact information.
We leave you with two important thoughts that were the themes of the speeches of our two leading candidates for State Party Chair last weekend: "Ya basta!" as Glen Maxey said. We've had enough of Republican greed, corruption, lies, neglect and indifference. But only by coming together and working as a team can we succeed in ridding this County, State and Nation of the Republican menace. As Party Chair Boyd Richie reminded us, "It's about 'we', not 'me'."
Democratically, and with thanks to you all,
Ken Molberg & Theresa Daniel
State Democratic Committee Members
Senate District 16, Dallas
P.S. Lost and Found: A pair of glasses and a book were found abandoned in our district. Contact Theresa about them.
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