Democratic Party Chair. VOTE IS Feb 25th! Are you giving your Reps Feedback? It MATTERS

Frankly too many of us IGNORE democratic party politics, until its too late.  Lets not repeat the debacle of last DNC convention.

Who's who in the Race for the DNC Chair  -NPR  
The contest is expected to be between Ellison, the representative of the voices of the Sanders Campaign, and Perez, a new face (and the most progressive) of the "old DNC".
​From Wikipedia:

• Keith Ellison of Minnesota, U.S. Representative from Minnesota since 2007[4][26]
  • Ellison, 53, represents Minnesota's 5th District, which includes Minneapolis and some of its suburbs. In 2007, he became the first Muslim elected to Congress.  Has the support of Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren
• Thomas Perez of Maryland, United States Secretary of Labor from 2013 to 2017[12]
  • Served in the Obama Whitehouse - NPR says "Perez, 55, represents the Obama camp — he was secretary of labor from 2013 until last month and was considered the most liberal member of President Barack Obama's Cabinet. Before joining the Labor Department, he was head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division."
• Pete Buttigieg of Indiana, Mayor of South Bend, Indiana since 2012.[14]
  • "outside the beltway candidate" endorsed  by Howard Dean
• Jehmu Greene of Texas, Democratic strategist, Fox News analyst, and former Rock The Vote president.[15]
• Peter Peckarsky of Wisconsin, attorney[29]
• Sam Ronan of Ohio, activist and Air Force veteran[30]
• Sally Boynton Brown of Idaho, Executive Director of the Idaho Democratic Party since 2012[31]
• Robert Vinson Brannum, Veterans Committee chair of the NAACP’s Washington D.C. branch [30]

CNN summarizes the competition for Party Chair, and the Party conflicts

Who are the candidates and what do they stand for? - the Hill thehill.com/homenews/campaign/312270-democrats-take-sides-in-race-for-dnc-chair

Tweets by DNC

WHAT IS THE STRUCTURE OF THE DNC? Approximately 447 members serve on the National Committee. The membership is composed of the following general categories:

• State-elected Members: Most DNC members are elected by a Democratic Party process held in each state and territory. Two hundred members are apportioned among the states (including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico) based on population and Democratic voting strength – with each state receiving at least two members. (The allocations range from two members in a number of states to 19 in California.) Additional members are apportioned to Democrats Abroad, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Democrats Abroad.
• State Chairs and Vice Chairs: Each State Party’s Chair and Vice Chair (technically, the highest ranking officer of the opposite sex of the Chair) are automatically recognized as DNC members.
• Representatives of Democratic Elected Officials and Affiliated Organizations: The National Committee includes representative Democratic officials from various levels of elected office including: U.S. Senators, U.S. Representatives, Governors, Mayors, State Legislators, Municipal and County Officials, etc. In addition, Democratic organizations such as the College Democrats, Young Democrats, and National Federation of Democratic Women have representatives on the DNC.
• At-Large Members: To help ensure Democratic constituencies have appropriate representation within the Party organization, the National Committee members elect an additional group of members (75) who serve in an “At-Large” capacity.

You can request a DNC Roster at secretaryoffice@dnc.org.  

"Most voting DNC members — a majority of whom are state party chairs, vice chairs or other locally elected officials — are keeping their options open ahead of a string of candidate forums in January and February."

Read the Democratic Party Platform (extra credit)

My ultra-simplified summary:   Ellison represents the "Bernie" side of the party.  Perez represents the "old/clinton" side of the party.  Trust needs to be built between the coalitions.  There needs to be reassurances that the party will be progressive enough, and will represent all of its people.  There needs to be commitments that the back room dealing done by the Party before the 2016 election, as leaked by wikileaks will never happen again.  

Who is your State Democratic party representative:
- Oddly I can't find this information anywhere.  This is a problem.
Oregon: docs.google.com/document/d/1cr--iTm73zwDIA0rStBuSv7crHXOnT8cjsSUp5sqC-E/edit#

Ellison is the "front-runner', and Harrison just dropped out today, endorsing Perez, which may put him over the top.