At the end of our last podcast, we briefly talked about three larger systemic problems that created the environment for strategic errors that may have cost us the election. The first was the lack of trust institutional Democratic funders have of our State Party, the second was the lack of real investment by our elected officials in the success of our state party, and the third was our Party structure that consolidates power and decision making in a very few number of people.

This podcast focuses on the latter.

The structure of our State Party does not reflect our values of inclusiveness, equality, and empowering our grassroots. 

Our current structure inevitably leads to a concentration of power in the hands of a few which leads to a lack of transparency on strategy and budget, and most importantly a lack of empowerment of our membership which are not treated as leaders in the governing body of a State Party, but more as volunteers.

Our structure also sidelines minority voices, and does not give our communities equal representation in the room where decisions are made. And it alienates the grassroots, whether purposefully or not, by not having more seats at the table.

This podcast makes a public case for reforming our State Party structure because it is not only unaligned with our values but because it marginalizes the very people we want to win over and often leads to bad strategic decisions.

Change to our system will not come from the top down, but from the bottom up. It will not come from insiders, but by public demand.

The rules changes I will be submitting to the State Party is modeled after the California bylaws with a few tweaks to address the logistical challenges many people have raised and to ensure each county is always proportionally represented.

• The red-lined Bylaws changes can be seen here
• The membership composition of the State Executive Committee and State Central Committee can be seen on this excel sheet here
• And below you'll find some of the major changes in narrative form

I submit this to you as only one solution, and there are many out there. All I know is that our current rules come from a bygone dixiecrat era when party leaders had a not so subtle disdain for grassroots activists, and a vocal disdain for minority voices. We must turn the page.

Major changes include:

1. Remove the weighted vote. Each county will now elect one representative for every 10,000 Democrats residing in their county, or fraction thereof. These representatives will be called delegates to the state executive committee. See excel sheet for allocation. The delegates serve at the pleasure of their DECs, are required to be registered Democrats in the county they seek to represent, but are not required to be elected members of their DEC.
   • In counties with 4 or more delegates, those counties will elect a Delegation Chair and Vice Chair. Should a delegate from one of these counties be unable to attend or identify a proxy, their proxy vote will automatically go to the Delegation Chair. In their absence, the Delegation Vice Chair would assume this responsibility.
   • The delegates from counties with less than 4 delegates will form a Small Counties Delegation and likewise elect a Chair and Vice Chair with the same responsibilities.
2. Ensure proportional county representation always. One of the major challenges to rules reform is the logistical concern of large counties to mobilize several dozen members to attend FDP meetings. We can ensure each county is always fully and proportionally represented through Delegation Chairs. It would work as follows:
   • Governor - 10 appointments
   • Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Chief Financial Officer, Commissioner of Agriculture, U.S. Senators - 5 appointments
   • U.S. Representatives - 2 appointments
   • State Legislators - 1 appointment
3. Increased involvement from our elected officials and candidates. All statewide elected Democrats, members of Congress, and members of the state legislature are now members of the State Executive Committee (SEC). Additionally, our Democratic nominees that ran for any of these offices but did not win are also now members of the SEC. Each of these members have a certain number of appointments based on the office they are elected to or campaigned for.
4. Eligibility. Eligibility to run for officers of the State Executive Committee has been expanded to include any member of the State Executive Committee.
5. Equal division and gender neutrality language. It's time the FDP embraces gender neutral language. These changes are reflected here.
6. Large County Chairs. All DEC Chairs from counties with over 100,000 registered Democrats are now automatic members of the SEC.
7. Other Appointments. The Presidents of each Caucus and Young/College Dems shall make 2 additional appointments. The officers of the State Party shall each make 5 additional appointments. And the Senate and House Democratic Leaders will each make an additional 10 appointments
8. Meetings. Another logistical challenge is mobilizing such a large group of people consistently. Like California, the SEC will only be required to meet once a year, while the Central Committee will be required to meet every 3 months.
9. Central Committee. The central committee composition is also expanded to include all of our statewide elected officials, members of congress, and state legislators. The Chairs of all County Delegations, the DEC Chairs with over 100,000 registered Democrats, and officers from each Congressional District.
10. Congressional District. With such an expanded SEC, it was clear to allow more participation in the Central Committee. The easiest and most proportional way was to elect two additional officers for each Congressional District. It will now be a Chair, Vice Chair, and two at-large representatives per Congressional District.
11. Enactment. If passed in March (though unlikely, but forever hopeful), the state party shall be fully reorganized by September, with all current officers and DNC members allowed to serve the remainder of their term through the end 2020.