Dear DNC Member,
It was wonderful to be with so many of you in Las Vegas for our fall DNC meeting. I left the meeting inspired and energized and am looking forward to working with all of you to strengthen our party as we work to achieve victories up and down the ballot in 2017, 2018, and beyond.
As I have started doing after all of our DNC meetings, we’ll be sharing a report of what happened so you as a member can know and can share it with your constituents. It was an action-packed week, where we came together for two General Sessions, an Executive Committee Meeting, four Standing Committee meetings, and a cumulative 18 Caucus and Council meetings!
Here are some updates about things that happened during the meeting:
General Sessions
During Thursday’s General Session for DNC members, Chair Tom Perez and CEO Jess O’Connell walked through the new DNC, highlighting our renewed focus on modernizing, organizing, rebuilding, and winning. Members heard from new senior leadership, including Political & Organizing Director Amanda Brown Liermann, CTO Raffi Krikorian and CMO Caitlin Mitchell. Chair Perez and team walked through a presentation detailing the new DNC. You can find a version of it here.
In addition, during Thursday’s session, a town hall was held that allowed members to ask questions of the Chair and the other officers. Topics ranged from organizing priorities, to how we are engaging millennials, to what investments are being made today in state parties. It was an informative discussion.
During Saturday’s General Session, we heard remarks from Senator Catherine Cortez Masto who talked about how they won in Nevada in 2016. She talked about how we cannot rely on anger and needing to focus on working families. We also were joined by former Senator Harry Reid. Our keynote speaker was former Attorney General Eric Holder who highlighted the fight against gerrymandering and next steps.
In addition to hearing from these speakers, we watched several inspiring videos. One was created by our Digital shop that talks about the new DNC. The other was a video highlighting Doug Jones in Alabama. We also were joined by video from Phil Murphy, candidate for governor in New Jersey, as well as via Skype by Tim Kaine and Justin Fairfax talking about the races in Virginia.
During the Saturday general session, the members approved the Chair’s slate of 75 at-large members, as well as standing committee appointments, by acclamation. The DNC considered several reports from our Standing Committees.
Those reports included:
Resolutions Committee Report The Resolutions Committee considered a number of resolutions submitted by members, which were a combination of messaging and commemorative resolutions. Among the Resolutions adopted by the DNC were resolutions highlighting the DNC’s commitment to hurricane relief for Texas, Louisiana, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands and fire relief for California wildfires, opposing the Trump Muslim Ban, and outlining the DNC’s new mission. Commemorative resolutions recognized committed Democrats who had recently passed away, including former DNC LGBT Caucus Chair Rick Stafford and Bob Farmer.
In addition, the Executive Committee considered and adopted three timely and urgent resolutions, one on the Las Vegas massacre and the other two being commemorative.
A packet of the final resolutions, as approved by the DNC, is available by clicking this link.
Credentials Committee Report
The DNC Credentials Committee met on Friday afternoon to hear updates on two challenges presently before the Committee.
Rules & Bylaws Committee Report
Rules & Bylaws Committee Chair Jim Roosevelt reported out on the meeting of the RBC held on Thursday morning. The RBC adopted a revised charter amendment that deals with the gender balance of DNC officers. It was put forward to the body for a vote and adopted.
It was also shared that Chair Perez introduced a charter amendment adding the DNC Secretary and the President of the ASDC as automatic members of the Rules & Bylalws Committee.
In addition, Chair Perez provided a brief report on the exciting work of the Unity Reform Commission. The Commission has held four meetings since being appointed and have had informative and productive discussions on the various topics covered in the mandate. The Commission is required to issue its report and recommendations to the Rules and Bylaws Committee by January 1, 2018. Please find an update from Chair and Vice Chair Jen O'Malley Dillon and Larry Cohen here.
Transition Advisory Committee Report
Reverend Leah Daughtry, one of the co-chairs for the DNC’s Transition Advisory Committee, shared updates on the Committee’s work and highlighted the focus areas that were discussed.
Caucus and Council Chair Elections
Throughout the DNC meeting, each of our regional caucuses, as well as our constituency caucuses and councils, held elections for leadership positions. We are excited to have such a diverse slate of individuals who ran and were elected.
Those Chairs that were elected were:
Black Caucus: Virgie Rollins
AAPI Caucus: Bel Leong-Hong
Women's Caucus: Lottie Shackelford
LGBT Caucus: Earl Fowlkes
Hispanic Caucus: Iris Martinez
Midwestern Caucus: Ron Harris
Eastern Caucus: Nancy DiNardo
Southern Caucus: Alan Clendenin
Western Caucus: Jesse Durfee
Youth Council: Akilah Ensley
Rural Council: Betty Richie
Disability Council: Tony Coelho
Native American Council: Rion Ramirez
Small Business Council: Andrew Lachman
Seniors Council: Steve Regenstreif
Vets & Military Families Council: Thomas McDermott & Christine Pelosi
Labor Council: Maria Elena Durazo
I was inspired by our Fall Meeting and am looking forward to working and communicating with each and every one of you in the weeks, months, and years ahead, as we work to rebuild, modernize, organize and win.
Have a wonderful week, and I look forward to speaking with you soon.
If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to me.
Yours,
Jason Rae
Secretary
Democratic National Committee