The Goodwin House Gets a Shakeup
If Anderson Clayton can infuse North Carolina Democrats with the energy, optimism and aggressiveness of her insurgent campaign for state party chair, 2024 can be a good year.
The first vice chair, former state Sen. Floyd McKissick, also was ousted, by Jonah Garson. Kimberly Hardy defeated incumbent second vice chair Matt Hughes. Garson and Hardy (pictured) ran as a ticket.
Incumbent Chair Bobbie Richardson was endorsed by the state’s top two Democrats, Governor Roy Cooper and Attorney General Josh Stein. But young activists were restless and rebellious.
Fair or not, Richardson took the fall for Democrats’ poor showing here in 2022. Whenever any organization, a party or a corporation, suffers a setback, heads usually roll.
The new heads roiled the Goodwin House headquarters in Raleigh. But what now?
“Political organization” is an oxymoron. Parties are fractious by nature. Democrats here sometimes fight each other more than Republicans.
The new team has to deal with not only party organizations and candidate campaigns, but also House and Senate caucus committees, various affiliated committees and independent expenditure groups – plus all the geniuses in Washington making you jump through hoops before they bestow their millions of dollars on you.
They also need to travel the state, rev up people, recruit candidates, raise money, mobilize volunteers and combat the party’s biggest threat: a sense of helplessness, creeping defeatism and a permanent-minority mindset.
That change would be welcome.
Jeffrey Billman did an excellent story for The Assembly about Anderson and the chair contest, “Tangled Up In Blue.”
The Goodwin House Gets a Shakeup
If Anderson Clayton can infuse North Carolina Democrats with the energy, optimism and aggressiveness of her insurgent campaign for state party chair, 2024 can be a good year.
The first vice chair, former state Sen. Floyd McKissick, also was ousted, by Jonah Garson. Kimberly Hardy defeated incumbent second vice chair Matt Hughes. Garson and Hardy (pictured) ran as a ticket.
Incumbent Chair Bobbie Richardson was endorsed by the state’s top two Democrats, Governor Roy Cooper and Attorney General Josh Stein. But young activists were restless and rebellious.
Fair or not, Richardson took the fall for Democrats’ poor showing here in 2022. Whenever any organization, a party or a corporation, suffers a setback, heads usually roll.
The new heads roiled the Goodwin House headquarters in Raleigh. But what now?
“Political organization” is an oxymoron. Parties are fractious by nature. Democrats here sometimes fight each other more than Republicans.
The new team has to deal with not only party organizations and candidate campaigns, but also House and Senate caucus committees, various affiliated committees and independent expenditure groups – plus all the geniuses in Washington making you jump through hoops before they bestow their millions of dollars on you.
They also need to travel the state, rev up people, recruit candidates, raise money, mobilize volunteers and combat the party’s biggest threat: a sense of helplessness, creeping defeatism and a permanent-minority mindset.
That change would be welcome.
Jeffrey Billman did an excellent story for The Assembly about Anderson and the chair contest, “Tangled Up In Blue.”