Last weekend, Carrboro played host to state party leaders as they introduced themselves to the community. Among them was Anderson Clayton, who was recently elected in North Carolina as the youngest chair of the Democratic Party.
“We’re leaving out communities across this state, voters across this state that look the way that our party wants to see this state look in the future,” Anderson said. “It is diverse, it is accepting and it is welcoming to everybody. That’s the Democratic Party. That’s the state that we’re fighting for in 2023 and 2024.”
According to First Vice Chair Jonah Garson, this event was part of the Democratic Party’s efforts to be more transparent during the upcoming election cycle.
“It is very important for the credibility of the state Democratic Party to address a trust deficit that we have with grassroots throughout the state and with activists and with donors. It is very important that we’re getting out there and telling folks with some specificity what our plans are to turn this all around. And being honest with people about what outcomes we can hope for,” Garson said.
Garson is a Chapel Hill native and graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill. He also served as the Chair of the Orange County Democratic Party until his election to the state party in 2023.
Saturday was much different than the virtual settings that have made up the past few years. As the evening went on, a band played, Orange County community members mingled and desserts were passed around, including a rainbow cake to celebrate Pride Month.
At the event, Garson said he and the other party members are working hard to make our battleground state vote blue in the next election.
“I was elected to this reform minded board in February knowing that in order for North Carolina to become a functional, viable Democrat Democratic Party,” he said. “For North Carolina Democrats to be a functional, viable, battleground state Democratic Party we need to take the hard earned lessons from the Michigan, Wisconsin, the Georgians, and apply them here. These are the things that we should have been doing over the course of this past decade.”
For Clayton, that means targeting the more rural communities that have been overlooked in past election cycles including Alamance, Henderson, Pearson, Roxboro, and Hertford Counties.
“The Democratic Party has inherently left out our voters. We’ve left people behind and we don’t have to do that going forward. We can show up to people’s doors and we can say we count your vote matters this year. It matters more than it ever has before. And we can show them that the Democratic Party is” Anderson said to the crowd.
Orange County differs from the state as a whole and typically wins the Democratic vote. But Garson says that doesn’t mean community members’ work is done.
Garson urges locals to join ‘County-to-County,’ which he says is one of the best ways to get involved. County-to-County is a year-round volunteer organization that uses canvassing and phone banking to get democratic support.
CoDirector Laura Baxley said these efforts can make a huge difference.
“When people are talked to by a volunteer or a canvasser at the door, they are 12 percent more likely to go out and vote,” she said. “Joe Biden lost by one percent. C’mon, y’all! 12 percent more democrats out there voting. You can do it. You have a superpower and we want to put you to work doing it.”
The party leaders said they appreciated the interest on Saturday and know they can spark the same passion elsewhere in the state.
“Thank you for your time and your energy, and thank you for digging in deep with me because that’s what it’s going to take,” Anderson said.
Garson says he and the team are ready to give it their all.
“I think we have an enormous opportunity,” Garson said. “We have a party committed to reform and committed to implementing the hard learned lessons from other battleground states over the past decade and this new board, we knew what we signed up for, so you know we are going to give it everything we’ve got and then some.”
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“For Clayton, that means targeting the more rural communities that have been overlooked in past election cycles including Alamance, Henderson, Pearson, Roxboro, and Hertford Counties.”– “Reporter” /”editors” need to learn a little geo-political divisions of NC before letting the ink drip. Try Alamance, Vance, Person and Hertford Counties