In a marathon meeting on Monday night, the Hillsborough County Democratic Executive Committee (HCDEC), otherwise known as the local county branch of the Democratic Party, a brand new slate of officers was chosen by the membership to lead the local Democrats into the future. Some would say it is not a moment too soon. Since the “Red Wedding” electoral massacre of 2022 when Blue Hillsborough went Red as far as the eye can see, local Democrats have struggled to regain a foothold in elected offices. With the selection of new Chair Vanessa Lester and Vice Chair of Operations Drew Vaughn, there is renewed hope for success. Lester and Vaughn were our guests on MidPoint on Wed. Dec. 4th.
After 8 years or so at the helm of the local Party, Ione Townsend retired and did not run for the top job again. Some local opinion-makers cast this election for a new HCDEC Chair as a contest between the old, “establishment Democrats,” as represented by candidate Susan Valdes, a Latina, State Representative from West Tampa who was supported by many of the “old guard” Democrats, and Vanessa Lester, a Black, Project Manager, and long-time Democratic Party activist who allegedly represented the “progressive” wing of the Party.
Bringing NPA’s & Young Voters Back Into the Democratic Party
There’s no doubt that the Party’s fortunes were greatly improved by the increase in its finances over Townsend’s administration with assistance from fundraiser Mark Hanissee; along with the development of a high-dollar donor group, the Hillsborough Society, and the emphasis on relationship-building with the labor unions. However, the progressive candidates challenged whether the money has been well-spent if the Democrats continued to lose elections and face a significant defection of Democratic Party registrants over to No Party Affiliation (NPA) registration. We discussed how the new registration deficit in Florida between Democrats and Republicans and the increase in NPA voters discourages the National Democratic Party from investing resources in Florida and that, in turn, makes it more difficult to attract more Democrats to the Party. It becomes a vicious cycle. It is one reason the new leadership is very attentive to how they can increase the membership of the local Democratic Party and engage more people, especially younger voters, to become active Democrats.
On MidPoint, the new leadership, Lester and Vaughn, promised to work to develop more and better grass-roots organizing, to “meet the voters where they are,” and to use more and better new technologies to advance what they insist will be better-targeted messaging to encourage more Democratic votes. New Chair Vanessa Lester touted her management skills as a “process person” who can bring projects to fruition successfully. Vice Chair for Operations Drew Vaughn, with a background in marketing and Artificial Intelligence, is particularly passionate about the possibilities of using advanced technologies to enhance the Democrats’ messaging in ways that are more efficient and focused, as well as rolling out a small-dollar donor program. Lester and Vaughn encourage listeners to learn more about the local Democratic Party from their website, and they welcome listeners to attend their next meeting on January 25th, location and time TBD.
You can hear more from the new Party leadership interviews in the MidPoint archives here, in the WMNF app, or our WMNF MidPoint podcast from your favorite podcasting source.
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