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Saturday, April 14, 2007
Winners: Bernalillo County Dems
Congratulations to all the winners of the Democratic Party of Bernalillo County election, which took place today at Manzano High School in Albuquerque. Members of the County Central Committee elected the following officers, who will serve for two years:
County Party Chair: Ana Canales (below) won vs. Robert Aragon
County Party 1st Vice Chair: Jim Buhaug (by acclamation)
County Party 2nd Vice Chair: Cheryl Harris (by acclamation)
Mike Rose and Carolyne DeVore-Parks, who ran as a team with Robert Aragon, withdrew as Vice Chair candidates when Ana Canales won.
The DPBC also elected more than 100 members who will represent the County on the DPNM State Central Committee, which meets on April 28th in Las Cruces to conduct business and elect a new state chair. Check the DPBC website for updated election results.
Click our Flickr album of photos from today's meeting.
Big thanks to the outgoing officers who served for the last two years: County Chair Marvin Moss, 1st Vice Chair Kate Stetson and 2nd Vice Chair Daniel Ivey-Soto, along with all the hard-working volunteers who put the meeting together. Onward to Las Cruces and Victory in 2008.
Note: Photo of Ana Canales by Suzanne Prescott.
April 14, 2007 at 07:11 PM in Candidates & Races, Democratic Party | Permalink
Comments
Three Cheers for Ana Canales !A true progressive and real citizen who fights every day to raise here three children and make a living. Lets hope our state central committee has the balls to vote for a real progressive !
Posted by: Happy Dem | Apr 16, 2007 9:25:56 AM
I've heard that Ana's views on some issues like immigration and women's choice are less than progressive. Hope she can be effective anyway. Party building is really about mechanics and leadership not positions on issues.
Posted by: Questions | Apr 16, 2007 12:01:02 PM
It seems like the "progressive" group is not helping the party at all! From what I have been reading, all the "progressives" are doing is isolating themselves from the party. I am a young democrat and if someone were to ask me to join the progressives I would think that I am joining a totally different party! The "progressives" might as well become the new green party and get what they want... Their own people in office. I am not a progressive I am a democrat.. If we are here for one common goal we need to put the people that are the MOST qualified to do the job... BOTTOM LINE!
Posted by: non-progressive | Apr 16, 2007 1:24:20 PM
BOTTOM LINE: The most qualified people are the ones who have been doing the work. Ana Canales got people to walk precincts for legislative candidates last year, especially on the west side and in the NE Heights. As one ward chair told me, "Ana Canales walked my precinct with me last year. Robert Aragon lives down the street and he didn't do sh*t." A generational change is happening in the way we relate to each other. This is the new way.
Contrast that with "Vote for us or we'll take our business elsewhere," or telling an active precinct chair, "we don't have any SCC votes for you if you don't vote for all of us." That's the old way.
You can look at the County chair race from many perspectives. There are many reasons that Ana won. However, IMHO this is the most important: the people who did the work get to lead. If you want to be influential in the Democratic Party, DO THE WORK. Then other people will listen to you, trust you, inspire you, and work with you. That's my bottom line.
Posted by: Party volunteer | Apr 16, 2007 2:06:55 PM
I agree with you volunteer... I give all the credit to those who do the work. I am not referring to the county chair race in particular. I am talking about the "progressive" group in general. It is not about we are the "progressives" it is about we are democrats! May the best man/woman win. We are all here for one goal, get our people elected and push our issues/policies. It is happening far too often that our party is divided by people or groups isolating themselves from the Democratic Party because a fellow Democrat wants to beat them or has beat them. This snowballs into the general election and too much animosity has been built up. The Democratic Party then finds themselves split and ultimately losing key elections. If we are to stand together and support EVERYONE that has the courage and the credentials to run for office we might find ourselves in better positions in the long run. If we boast our fellow Democrats’ credentials instead of focus on the negatives, we might find ourselves with even stronger candidates in the general election.
Posted by: non-progressive | Apr 16, 2007 2:30:46 PM
Progressive is a word thrown around and it can mean many things. Some people who claim to be progressive aren't and some who don't like the lable really are.
My complaint about the election was how much rumor and bad talk was being passed along by people who supported Ana Canales. I am kind of new to party stuff and I was shocked. Too bad she couldn't run on a positive platform instead of being devisive or at least the people for her were. Being so negative just causes problems down the road.
Many people work hard but it takes leadership and clear thinking to be a good officer in any organization. Also a talent for bringing people together. I don't see that in how Ana's campaign was run. Maybe she is a nice person but that is not how her campaign came across. It was kinda upsetting.
Posted by: New to party elections | Apr 16, 2007 5:14:58 PM
To me the important thing is to unite and work together to build the Party and get good candidates elected. In primaries and in races for Party offices, Dems compete against Dems, but when these contests are over we need to come together and work on our common goals. We are all Democrats and we know what we are up against on the Republican side locally and in the White House. We will need ALL factions of the Party to win elections.
Bernalillo County Dems have a new leadership team and the more support they get from everyone, the stronger our Party will be. Now's the time.
Posted by: > | Apr 17, 2007 8:55:30 AM
There is so much work to be done: to hold candidates accountable, to help good people succeed in the political sphere, to remake the Democratic brand, to bring people into the process who have lost hope or have become disbelievers in democracy, to raise money to help make good things happen, to put a shoulder behind the wheel in a common effort to make the world a better place.
I think we will see some changes from the top of our party. What a great time to be a Democrat in NM.
Posted by: bg | Apr 17, 2007 8:24:57 PM
