Newly elected chairwoman of the Tennessee Democratic Party Rachel Campbell received warm congratulations and a warm sendoff Tuesday from the local JFK Club, where she serves as president.
Ms. Campbell also leaves her position as chair of the Hamilton County Democratic Party.
Registered Democrats will vote to replace her and the entire slate of party leadership in Hamilton County on March 8. All executive officer positions and executive committee seats are up for election, Ms. Campbell said.
“People are ready for a little bit of a change,” said Ms. Campbell, who beat out six candidates at the end of January.
“Wow. This is the biggest JFK crowd that I have ever seen,” said Chris Anderson, a member of the TNDP executive committee. He said Ms. Campbell’s leadership will channel more support to county parties, away from merely protecting incumbents in Davidson County.
“It’s a new day,” Mr. Anderson said. “We’re going to see some big changes in Tennessee.”
Ms. Campbell said she will continue to live in Chattanooga, while commuting to Nashville. But there will be a statewide focus.
Ms. Campbell joined in the pledge of the new Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin to “get the DNC out of D.C.,” she said.
“We are going to get out of Nashville,” she said. “We have to get out of Nashville.”
She described her new role as an organizer who unifies the state executive committee and cuts the bickering, she said. She made a quick call for donations, saying the state party’s finances need shoring up.
Rebuild, Realign, Renew
In the next two years, Ms. Campbell said, she will work to rebuild coalitions from the bottom up with strong candidates in local and regional elections. She will localize the party’s platform and renew efforts to track and measure valuable data on issues and voters.
Strong party candidates build strong coalitions, which bring strong wins, she said, and challenged each state to focus on rebuilding its own unique coalition, with open arms.
“We stopped coalition building after Obama,” she said.
The right diversification of Democratic candidates will only help build the coalition, she said.
“We have got to stop the purity tests,” she said.
Red Tennessee may be “breaking ground” for more states to shift left, she said. The state’s Republican voter share grew by only 1.5 points this election cycle, while other states gained four points or more, she said.
“We are not going to turn Tennessee blue next year,” she said. “That is a wish, not a reality.” Democrats must plant coalitions in local elections first: City Council, County Commission, the school board, even the District Attorney’s office, and then up to state legislators.
“Does anybody love the work that Coty Wamp is doing?” Ms. Campbell asked, and was answered with low grumbles.
Ms. Campbell said local seats build the reputation of a candidate destined for bigger office. Hamilton County Commissioner David Sharpe, for example, has helped Chattanoogans fix their roofs, roads and water problems, she said.
“He would make a wonderful candidate for state legislature,” she said. “We’re not starting at the bottom.”
Finally, she said, she will unify and streamline the local party’s platform in conjunction with the House Caucus, with a directive to “seize the moment,” unite Democrats and take back moderates.
Today, that moment is President Donald Trump’s order to stop minting pennies, she said, which will cost jobs in Tennessee’s Greene County, home of the only U.S. “penny blanks” factory.
Ms. Campbell asked voters to call and email Republican elected officials and to participate in official rallies. She listed widespread unhappiness with alleged cuts in Social Security and Medicaid, a “foreign billionaire in charge” and the fear of layoffs at TVA.
“We still have to let them know where we stand,” she said.
“Thumbs are way down,” added a member of the audience.
But Ms. Campbell gave credit to newly elected state Rep. Michele Reneau, a Republican, for voting against the school voucher program after listening to her constituents and Senator Todd Gardenhire, who fights to allow illegal immigrants in public schools, and fights against the dismantling of public education, too.