The Democratic Party has an established system of turning out voters on election day in November. Precinct officials appointed and trained (in theory, at least) by the MCDCC are in charge of calling, cajoling, and reminding voters to get to the polls. In theory, there are supposed to be 255 "precinct chairs" and another 255 "vice chairs", one of each for each electoral precinct in Montgomery County (Note: several of those precincts don't really exist, but for geographic purposes are accounted for anyway).
However, the party precinct operation is in shambles. Precinct officials are exhausted from years of being asked to shepherd voters with little thanks and few rewards. Increasingly, precinct officials are aging out--many decades older than the median age of the county. While this has not affected their work ethic or determination to serve their party, one must bare in mind our earlier blog post detailing the sharp decline in millennial voters choosing either party. To connect to and woo millennials to vote (something Democrats must do if they wish to remain in power next decade), younger, newer faces are needed across the party's precinct operation in order to galvanize with zeal and conviction Democratic voters to vote in their primary election--which for now, remains the only election that matters in MoCo.
Reform #2: Diversify the Party
In addition to wooing millennials, the Democratic Party must get minorities to vote. The term minority is misleading, as minorities now make up the majority of the county's population. Yet, that has not yet translated into an equal distribution of seats in Annapolis or Rockville between whites and minorities. Before jumping to conclusions: we think this speaks to the high integrity and gifted statesmanship of the vast majority of MoCo's elected officials in caring for their constituents concerns regardless of skin color, race, or creed. However, it is natural that as ethnic and minority communities feel more and more a part of American society, that they wish to see their elected officials or at the very least, their party officials look and sound more like them.
The incredible diversity of our county has slowly begun to emerge on the central committee. However, glaring inequities still remain: Hoan Dang, the sole East Asian American central committee-member lost his seat in District 19. District 15, whose East Asian, Muslim, and South Asian populations are huge, has no Muslim member, no South Asian member since Delegate Aruna Miller moved on to higher office, and no East Asian member. Luckily, they do have Venattia Vann, former vice chair of the party, who is African American. However, the other two members, Marjorie Goldman and Tim Whitehouse are both non-minorities, and in no way or form speak to the diversity of the district's population.
While losing Muslim-American Almina Khorikawala in District 16 (where Muslims have the least presence demographically), the central committee gained Mumin Barre, a Somali-American Muslim from District 39--only the second in county history. Muslims, who largely caucus by their faith and not by ethnicity, are a growing presence in the county. Yet, after the disastrous and repeat defeats of former Delegate Saqib Ali at the polls (last year he received zero votes for a recommendation by the Democratic Party to replace Senator Brian Feldman as a District 15 Delegate, and that was on the heels of a string of other high profile defeats in years past), there have been no Muslims elected to higher office in or from Montgomery County.
Latinos are consistently underrepresented as precinct officials and board members of various party-sanctioned clubs and caucuses around the county. While District 39's Juan Cardenas has now been joined by District 16's incredibly well-rounded Loretta Jean Garcia, the precinct operation is need of Latino officials who know and understand their community's dynamics and social culture.
(We apologize for the glaring absence of other diverse communities not spoken for above, but we move on for the sake of brevity; we mean no disrespect to the Developmental Disabilities, LGBTQ+, and other minority groups not mentioned above.)
Reform #3: Train the Leaders of Tomorrow
The author benefited not once, but several times from advanced political and advocacy training offered by constituencies to which he belongs to. There is absolutely no reason the Democratic Party cannot offer the same level of training while sharing a geographic border the world's most powerful political nerve center. The idea that the Democratic Party continues to rely on outside programs such as Emerge (which does an amazing job) to train potential candidates for office and party leaders is a strategy based on an outdated model that is destined to fail in the long run. The party must embrace all seeking to serve the people through elected office, and provide them the tools they need to run. This speaks to larger political ethic: we need our elections to be about ideas and not power politics, mailers and cold hard cash. The party can help create that vision of electoral equity by helping potential candidates learn what it takes to run through a campaign institute. Radical idea, we know.
Reform #4: A Stronger Platform
What does it mean to be Democrat? What do Democrats stand for? These seem like simple questions, but are not. The Democratic Party must outline its agenda and core beliefs for both everyday party members as well as elected officials. In every developed country in the world except our own, when the Party speaks, the Candidate listens. For some reason beyond the understanding of anyone at Center State Politics, that just doesn't happen here. But it did once. When George Leventhal served as Chair of the Montgomery County Democratic Party, he rammed through a stunning endorsement for a living wage for county contractors. The result was instantaneous: the county council followed suit and made it law. The party doesn't need to shackle politicians to their will, but it would be helpful for all those involved for the party to offer us a little more clarity on what it means to be a Democrat 'round these parts.
Reform #5: Take the Party Digital
We are not calling for the trashing of the sample ballot (well, not yet), but if Democrats wish to get their voters out to the polls, they need to engage them where most of them are during the day: online. Voters should not have to depend on WAMU or the Women's League of Voters to learn about Democratic candidates. It would be incredibly helpful for the MCDCC to offer a comprehensive, online guide featuring Democratic candidates and vital information regarding their campaign. Furthermore, Democrats should be able to know where to vote, how to vote and what districts & offices they are to vote for by a simply clicking a few buttons on their local party website. We need a 21st century approach to local politics, it's just that simple. By the way: if the Democrats did trash the sample ballot, they could claim it was a carbon footprint reduction decision. Just a thought.
Silver Lining
The good news is, under the guidance of Kevin Walling, the Young Democrat who was elected Chair of the MCDCC earlier this month, the party seems to be working towards just these reforms and more. We expect this central committee will re-vamp the party over the course of the next two years, and that there will be a respectable rise in overall turnout four year from now in the next local primary election.
These are very good ideas that deserve to be discussed and considered, and implemented. Most importantly, this whole subject --- how the MCDCC and others can increase voter knowledge and turnout --- is one of the most important ones we can be considering.
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