State Rep. Stephen Webber elected to lead Missouri Democratic Party
Party leadership turns millennial By ROGER MCKINNEY
JEFFERSON CITY — One month after losing a bid for state Senate, outgoing state Rep. Stephen Webber, D-Columbia, was elected the new chairman of the Missouri Democratic State Committee.
In a meeting Saturday at Lincoln University, there were two nominations for state party chairman to replace Roy Temple of Kansas City, who did not seek re-election. Aside from Webber, the other nominee was Winston Apple of Independence, an unsuccessful candidate for lieutenant governor. Webber won the election by a vote of 60-6 with two abstentions.
Webber said nothing went right for Missouri Democrats in last month’s election but urged perseverance. Webber himself lost his bid for Missouri’s 19th Senate District to state Rep. Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia.
“You can’t give up,” he said. “The people still need us to fight for them.”
He said as chairman, he would work to increase the rural vote and ensure the Democratic Party continues to be a loud voice for progressive issues in Missouri.
After the meeting, Webber said he wanted the chairman position because “there’s a lot of things worth fighting for,” including public education and the rights of working people.
“I think people are appalled at the direction” President-elect “Donald Trump wants to take our country,” he said.
St. Louis-area committee member Dennis Lavallee remarked on the youth of Webber, new vice chairwoman Genevieve Williams and new members to the Democratic National Committee introduced at the meeting. Webber is 33, and Williams and other members also are millennials.
“We have a new generation of leadership, and I think that says a lot for the Missouri Democratic Party,” Lavallee said.
Williams, of Neosho, also reflected on the phenomenon, noting she used to be the only person younger than 35 when she started going to party meetings.
“It’s not just our ages, it’s more saying, ‘we’re moving into the future,’ ” she said. Williams said the young generation also acknowledges the foundation left by past generations. “The world didn’t begin when we stepped in the room.”
Williams, who nominated Webber, said she’s excited about the change in leadership. “I think he’s going to take the party in a good direction,” she said of Webber. “He’s hitting all the right notes.”
Williams said state Democrats need something to look forward to after what she called a “horrific” election.
Darren Hellwege, of Columbia, 19th Senate District committeeman, said Webber would be a terrific chairman. He said Webber would work with the district committeewoman Cydney Mayfield of Cooper county, who is chairwoman of the Rural Caucus, noting Webber lost his Senate bid because of rural support for Rowden.
“We need to be speaking to people in Hallsville and Centralia and Pilot Grove,” Hellwege said.
He said there also is a rift between Hillary Clinton supporters and Bernie Sanders supporters in the party, a remnant of the presidential primary campaign.
“We’re trying real hard to get past that,” Hellwege said. “We need to recognize that Bernie is not just another candidate who lost, but we can bring his ideas and we can come together and make the party so much better.”
Temple, the outgoing chairman, also reflected on the election losses and the next steps, calling the election “devastating.”
“The results were heartbreaking, and the consequences will be felt for months and years to come,” he said. But, he said, there’s no “forever” in politics.
“To use the term ‘forever’ in politics should be done at your own peril,” he said. Using several examples of past upsets, Temple said, “The defeats we suffered last November will only be permanent if we let them be permanent. We’re not going to let them be permanent.”
Temple said Democrats still have one important role in relation to Republicans.
“We’ve got to hold Republicans accountable for the harm they will do,” he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment