GOOD NEWS ABOUT DEMOCRATS!
January 5, 2017
FEATURING
ANNOUNCED CANDIDATES FOR
NCDP OFFICES!
SEC MEMBERS CAN:
READ, STUDY & LEARN ABOUT OUR CANDIDATES!
SUGGESTION: PRINT OUT THIS EDITION
AND STUDY IT FREQUENTLY.
JANICE COVINGTON FOR STATE PARTY CHAIR!
Hello; As some of you know I have a long history as an active member of the
NC Democratic Party, 46 years to be precise. Before I get started, I want to say I do
realize that many of you think I am somewhat different and I am, but I can assure you
when you put aside the fact that I am a transgender person, you will find that I am the
most qualified person to generate the energy to move our Party forward and
then therefore out of the slump that it has been in for the last several years.
The reason I am seeking this position is because I believe all people have the right
to be represented in accordance of the NC Democratic Party’s Plan of Organization,
known as the Pre Amble. I also believe that all Democrats regardless of geographical
location can come together as a force that will guide our state into a positive future. If I
am elected as Chair of the NC Democratic Party, I will serve in a non-biased diverse
capacity. I will visit all counties, as long as you provide me something to eat.
PROFILE AND EXPERIENCE
I was born in 1947 to a family of Italian decent. When I became of age I enlisted in
the US Army in 1964 because I believed in serving my country during a time of War. I
served as a Combat Engineer, discharged from the US Army in 1967 with serviceconnected injuries. After being discharged I entered the building construction industry
here in North Carolina and in 1983 I started my own company until I retired in 2014.
BIO
Active member of the North Carolina Democratic Party for 46 years.
1971 worked with the Billy Creel Campaign for NC Labor Commissioner
Worked with Governor Bob Scott on education along with the Department of
Community Colleges as a Specialist Instructor
1977 – 1991 Cabarrus County Fire Chief
1977 – 2003 worked with the Charlotte Motor Speedway, logistics, planning
emergency services and fire protection, providing protection for over 300,000
racing fans.
1980 – 2003 Worked with NASCAR and the NC Department of Community Colleges
as an instructor for Motor Sports Safety and Emergency Incident Command.
1982 – 1985 Third Vice Chair Cabarrus County Democratic Party
1983 – 1984 worked with the Rufus Edmisten Campaign for Governor
1983 – 1984 made my own bid for a seat for the Cabarrus County Commission
1985 – 1987 appointed by the Cabarrus County Commissioners to serve on the
Centralina Council of Governments Region F
Elected by the people of the 8th Congressional District as First Transgender Woman
in history as a Delegate to represent the great State of North Carolina at the 2012
Democratic National Convention
2013 Elected as the first transgender woman delegate by the Mecklenburg County
Democratic Party to the 12th Congressional District
2013 Appointed as the NC Democratic Party Chair of Diversity and Outreach
2013 Received the Harvey Milk Award
2015 Elected as the Chair of the 29th Precinct Mecklenburg
2015 Received the Rosa Parks Award from the Mecklenburg County Dem Party
2015 – 2016 served on the NC State Democratic Party Affirmative Action
Committee for the 2016 DNC
2016 Board Member of TransUnited for Hillary National Campaign
2016 Elected to serve on the Board of Directors of the Democratic Women
of Mecklenburg County.
2016 Elected to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia Standing
Committee Member for the DNC
2016 Elected to the NC State Democratic Party Resolutions and Platform
Committee
BRENDA POLLARD FOR FIRST VICE CHAIR –PAGE ONE
BRENDA POLLARD FOR FIRST VICE CHAIR – PAGE TWO
GRACE GALLOWAY FOR FIRST VICE CHAIR – PAGE ONE
GRACE GALLOWAY FOR FIRST VICE CHAIR – PAGE TWO
SHERRY EASON FOR FIRST VICE CHAIR! – PAGE ONE
SHERRY EASON FOR FIRST VICE CHAIR – PAGE TWO
VELERIA LEVY FOR FIRST VICE CHAIR – PAGE ONE
VELERIA LEVY FOR FIRST VICE CHAIR – PAGE TWO
NO CANDIDATE
FOR
SECOND VICE CHAIR
HAS
SUBMITTED INFORMATION
TO
THIS PUBLICATION.
IF THEY DO,
IT WILL BE HAPPILY
FEATURED IN A
FUTURE EDITION!
CANDIDATES WHO ANNOUNCE
AFTER TODAY
WILL BE FEATURED
IN FUTURE EDITIONS
IF THEY SEND INFORMATION!
EMILY LOVETTE FOR THIRD VICE CHAIR – PAGE ONE
EMILY LOVETTE FOR THIRD VICE CHAIR – PAGE TWO
MATTHEW STAFFORD FOR 3RD VICE CHAIR – PAGE ONE
My name is Matthew Stafford. I’m a journalist
from High Point, NC and I am 26 years old.
I have been a member of the Young Democrats
since 2014. I’m running to be the Third Vice Chair
of the NCDP.
I was born in Cleveland, Ohio. However, I also
have many ties to rural areas. Much of my family
comes from West Virginia, Virginia, and North
Carolina. I’ve spent a lot of time on both sides of the
urban vs. rural divide that characterizes our nation. I
believe this make me uniquely qualified to help bridge
the gap.
I am a disablility rights advocate. I have cerebral
palsy. This is one of the reasons I joined the Democratic Party. I simply can’t see myself
being part of a party (GOP) that wants to shred everything disability rights activists
before me have fought for. We have people like Jeff Sessions who openly think that
America educating the disabled is the reason our schools have trouble. Republicans
want to bring back mass institutionalization in response to mass shootings. Of course,
they offer no concrete way to prevent the abuses, including sexual abuses, that led to
the closure of abusive institutions to begin with. With my degree in journalism, I have
developed writing skills that I use to advance the cause of the disabled and other
marginalized groups.
As a side note, Ronald Reagan didn’t close institutions. Disability rights activists
who were sick of them got them closed. One of the priorities of our Party should be to
energze a lot of people who have been historically ignored, such as disabled people.
Energizing disabled people starts with giving the disability rights movement the
credit it is due, rather than whitewashing it by saying Republicans did it. Don’t give them
credit.
I have also developed public speaking skills. When I was in college, I was on my
Student Government Association. I did things like help get a wheelchair lift for the
swimming pool at the campus rec center and help in the unending battle to keep the
elevators and automatic doors in something vaguely resembling working order.
In 2014 I took a class called Partners In Policy. If you have a disability, I cannot
recommend this class highly enough. It taught me about how to write my representatives
and speak in front of groups like school boards and city councils. You learn how to go to
town hall meetings. I’ve used these skills to great effect in support of Democratic
politics and disability rights advocacy.
When GOP Senator Trudy Wade was trying to redistrict Greensboro’s City Council,
no doubt out of spite of being voted off the Council, I publicly confronted her at the town
hall meeting. (I lived in Greensboro at the time.) Not every young person would have had
the courage to do that!
MATT STAFFORD FOR 3RD VICE CHAIR - CONTINUED
One of my proudest accomplishments was getting a law passed! In Greensboro,
you had to pay $75.00 to get a permit to get a wheelchair ramp installed in your own
house! Since disabled people are statistically more likely to be in poverty, this was
nonsense.
So using the skills I got from Partners, I got that fee overturned! The law
overturning the fee is call “MATT STAFFORD’S LAW.” Not to brag, but I don’t know of any
other on the ground activists in the Party who have a law named after them.
I’ve also done some of the run of the mill things. I helped in the primaries. I also
helped in the General Election. I helped register voters at parades and other events. I
made phone calls for the general campaign and for Michael Garrett’s campaign for State
Senator. I was even a poll watcher.
MATT STAFFORD WITH SOME OF HIS FELLOW GUILFORD COUNTY YOUNG DEMOCRATS
Now that I have written my bio, let me list some things I’ll try to change. Working in the
Democratic Party for several years, I’ve noticed several key flaws. For starters, we do very little
to reach out to rural areas. It’s fine to do a lot in major metropolitan areas. After all, there are a
lot of serious issues that need to be addressed. However, for too long, we’ve basically ceded
every place outside of a major city because we think we can’t win. We don’t even run candidates
or support the campaigns of candidates who do run in rural areas. No wonder these people feel so
ignored. We need a 100 county strategy!
But why do we basically give up on these areas? Working class people used to be our bread
and butter. What changed? Well for starters, we stopped trying to communicate with them. As a
result, the only time these people hear our message is when it’s distorted by crazy conspiracy
theorists. It also doesn’t help that some of us refer to them as things like “ignorant hicks” and the
like. We need to do better.
I keep hearing people say “Oh, we can’t win there.” Or worse, they say we need to
compromise our values. In fact, we have.
MATT STAFFORD FOR 3RD VICE CHAIR - CONTINUED
Back in 2006-2008, Howard Dean led the Party with a bold vision and a 50 state strategy.
We cleaned house! When I went to Bernie’s rally, I saw everyone from urban Democrats,
unaffiliated suburbanites, and disaffected rural Republicans who so many pundits think would
rather die than vote for anyone other than GOP, all wanting to hear something different than the
standard Reaganomics myth that the GOP has been pushing for 30 years. These people know
there is something very wrong but we can’t win them over by offering what is essentially a more
polite verson of more of the same budget slashing, privatization, and use of our military as
glorified babysitters. That does not generate voter enthusiasm among independents and it
certainly doesn’t turn out Democrats on Election Day.
It’s not as though there’s a lack of issues in rural communities Republicans are ignoring.
Huge chunks of Rockingham County (a GOP stronghold) are in a water crisis because of the coal
ash spill that Republicans have actively aided and abetted. Many in rural areas, particularly the
elderly, are now realizing that the return of preexisting conditions and cuts to Medicare apply to
them too (despite what Fox News has led them to believe.) And we know that no matter what
Trump does, he cannot stop the march of automation.
WE NEED TO BE THERE TO ATTACK AND THAT’S WHAT I WILL HELP FACILITATE!
No more playing nice with Ayn Rand worshipers. That means actually being there on the ground.
We can’t hope to accomplish anything by signing online petitions that no one besides the people
on Twitter will see.
We need to storm the lion’s den! We need to schedule meetings at their offices, fill their
inboxes, melt their phone lines, and storm their town halls (politely) demanding answers. Don’t
let people like GOP Congressman Mark Walker spend entire meetings rambling about guns,
abortion and crazy conspiracy nonsense.
We need to force Republicans to answer why they’re targeting their constituents’ Medicare
in front of said constituents. Make them sweat! One of my priorities will be the dissemination of
information on how to be an effective progressive activist. Change comes from action. Not
Facebook posts.
Regardless of how this election shakes out, I will be happy to work with fellow Democrats
to create a better North Carolina and a better America!
SEC MEMBERS ARE INVITED TO WRITE TO MATT STAFFORD AT:
[email protected]
ISAIAH FLETCHER FOR THIRD VICE CHAIR – PAGE ONE
ISAIAH FLETCHER FOR THIRD VICE CHAIR – PAGE TWO
ARON JOHNSON
FOR
THIRD VICE CHAIR
ARON JOHNSON FOR THIRD VICE CHAIR – PAGE TWO
LET’S RE-ELECT MELVIN WILLIAMS
TO KEEP THE GOOD NEWS FLOWING!
Melvin Williams is an excellent Secretary who writes accurate
Minutes of our State Democratic meetings and sends
them out within the 14 days required by the POO!
On his own initiative, Melvin started the “GOOD NEWS ABOUT DEMOCRATS!”
newsletter, the first publication the Party has ever had
which recognizes and praises the activities and achievements
of members of our North Carolina Democratic family!
Through the years thousands of NC Democrats have been recognized and saluted
in the “GOOD NEWS.”
Let’s re-elect Melvin so more Democrats can be given
statewide recognition in the coming years!