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The Democratic Party of Arkansas is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the state of Arkansas. It is responsible for promoting the ideologies and core values of the national Democratic Party in Arkansas.

Before Arkansas became a state on June 15, 1836, its politics was dominated by a small group commonly called "The Family" or "The Dynasty" until the American Civil War.[1] The founder of this party was James Conway, who was inspired by the death of his older brother, Henry Conway.[2] Henry Conway was killed in a duel, that took place on October 27, 1827, by Robert Crittenden, former friend, that soon became his political opposition.[3] In an act to avenge his brother's death, he formed the first political party of Arkansas, "The Dynasty".[3] Many of the members in this group were related by either blood or marriage, and thus how it received the name, "The Family".[2] This group was closely allied with former President Andrew Jackson.[1]

Arkansas began its statehood with a strong Democratic dominance in politics. The Democratic Party won every election for governor until 1966, when Republican Winthrop Rockefeller won Governorship.[1] Although the Democratic Party of Arkansas is not as dominant as it once was, it still has a strong presence in the state. However, that began to change in the early 2010s.

With the election of Barack Obama as President and the leftward shift of the national Democratic Party, Arkansas Democrats have seen their influence gradually decline. While Arkansas was able to resist the rise of the Republican Party throughout the rest of the South (partially thanks to Bill Clinton), it could not hold off forever. The Republicans began to make serious inroads in 2010, and it continued until it finally in 2014, when Republicans captured all the statewide offices, both chambers of the state legislature, all the U.S House seats and both U.S Senate seats, putting the Democrats in the minority for the first time in state history.

Democrat Governors won the Gubernatorial elections in the State of Arkansas since 1941:

[4][5]

The Democratic Party of Arkansas has a platform standing on the following principles: law and order with justice, every citizen, regardless of religion or race, is entitled to an equal voice in government. Also, it advocates equal opportunity, fairness and justice, and progressiveness. It not only promotes these standards, but also takes action to achieve them. With these principles comes a list of 52 rules.[6] The platform is filled with values such as ethics, education, economic development and opportunity, agriculture, transportation and infrastructure, environment and energy, health care, social security/medicaid/medicare, taxes, military/veterans and nation's security, criminal justice, civil rights and civil liberties, and public service. Its position on these topics mirrors closely that of the national Democratic Party.[7]

In 1978, then attorney general, Bill Clinton and wife Hillary Rodham Clinton were accused of being a part of a scandal with former friends and business partners, James McDougal and his wife, Susan McDougal.[8] The couples planned on buying land in Marion County, Arkansas to build vacation homes for tourists, and those that just wanted to get away.[8] However, the investment went bad, and both couples lost a numerous amount of money due to its failure. While Clinton was governor of Arkansas, questions about whether or not they properly paid taxes on the property, whether he extended favors to the loan and savings in exchange for campaign funds and whether McDougal may have illegally channeled funds from the savings and loans to the project arose.[8] After charges were dropped against the Clintons, David Hale claimed that Clinton pressured him into giving them a $300,000 loan to finance the project.[8]

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The modern Democratic Party in Chicago emerged in the generation that followed the fire of 1871. Carter H. Harrison I (18791887, 1893) and his son, Carter H. Harrison II (18971905, 19111915), were each elected mayor five times as Democrats, winning 10 of 17 contests between 1879 and 1911. Native white American Protestants, but less moralistic than many of their Republican counterparts, the Harrisons also drew on personal charisma to form alliances with varied immigrant groups. Among the shrewdest of the city's early professional politicians, these pioneers in the development of interethnic coalitions failed nonetheless to create a dominant organization.

Factionalism rooted in personality-based politics remained the hallmark of the Democratic Party well into the twentieth century. Politicians clamored around the Harrison crowd, while reform-minded Democrats surrounded Edward F. Dunne, even as a third groupled by Roger C. Sullivanmade the greatest inroads in organizing the Irish. Solidifying an ethnic base within the Democratic Party allowed Sullivan to mold the nucleus of an organization.

Sullivan died in 1920 and was replaced at the head of the Irish faction by George Brennan. Perhaps equally important to Democratic politics in this era was three-time Republican mayor William Hale (Big Bill) Thompson (19151923, 19271931). Effectively exploiting a rapidly expanding base of African American voters, Thompson appealed to racial identity in addition to German ethnic nationalism in a series of tumultuous electoral efforts. Democrats countered with appeals to ethnic pluralism. By running racially polarizing campaigns in the 1920s, the Brennan Democrats contributed to the evolution of whiteness as a political identity among European immigrants and their children. Anton Cermak, a foreign-born Czech and a West Side Democrat, recruited those deeply opposed to Prohibition and others, such as Jews, similarly stung by nativism. With personal liberty as a slogan, Cermak assumed powerful positions as president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners in 1922 and chairman of the party organization following George Brennan's death in 1928. His ticket balancing produced a broadly based Democratic coalition, including an Irish component.

Elected mayor in 1931, Cermak passed the party chairmanship to Pat Nash, who exemplified a more professional, and less narrowly ethnic, wing of the Irish contingent. Following Cermak's assassination, Nash selected Edward J. Kelly to serve as mayor. Kelly (19331947) expanded the party's base and resources by bringing African Americans into the Democratic fold, tapping the New Deal's federal largesse, and running a wide-open town congenial to organized crime. After World War II, the racial tensions generated by white reactions to a rapidly expanding black community, and the corruption associated with his administration, led the organization to dump Kelly as its standard-bearer.

Daley's 21-year administration (19551976) represented the apotheosis of the machine or Cook County Democratic Organization. He professionalized the city bureaucracy, centralized power by refusing to surrender the party chair, and, by the end of his reign, shifted the organization's base to the white urban fringe from the growing black core. By the 1970s, electoral results indicated the party's shaky grip on a racially polarized electorate even as hostile Republican prosecutors thinned the ranks of scandal-ridden party leaders. Daley's death in 1976 subsequently precipitated a revival of Democratic infighting in which bureaucrats fought ward leaders and ward barons battled among themselves. Jane Byrne's stunning victory over Daley successor Michael Bilandic following the blizzard of '79 marked the beginning of the end.

Washington's administration seemed to confirm the obituary. The new mayor refused to surrender city council control to the party's white leadership. Confronting implacable opposition from large numbers of white Democrats, Washington relied less on party politics than on personal popularity, racial loyalties, liberal public policy, and fiscal responsibility to maintain his coalition. His death in 1987, however, derailed the construction of a local Democratic Party built upon a new coalition of black, Latino, and liberal white voters. By the 1990s, Richard M. Daley had built a new model of city hall power, but it remained unclear at the turn of the century whether the foundation was the party or the mayor's shrewd and effective personal leadership.

Arnold R. Hirsch

Bibliography

Biles, Roger. Richard J. Daley: Politics, Race, and the Governing of Chicago. 1995.

Gottfried, Alex. Boss Cermak of Chicago: A Study of Political Leadership. 1962.

Grimshaw, William J. Bitter Fruit: Black Politics and the Chicago Machine. 1992.

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The Democratic Party of Illinois is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the state of Illinois. It is the oldest still-existing state party in Illinois and, along with the Green and Republican Parties, one of just three recognized parties in the state.

The Democratic Party of Illinois took shape during the late 1830s. Prior to that time, Illinois did not have organized political parties; instead, political competition in the state was more personalist, with prominent factions centered on Governors Ninian Edwards and Shadrach Bond. As the Democratic and Whig Parties began to form at the national level during the late 1820s and 1830s, Illinois politicians began sorting themselves accordingly and, in the summer of 1837, leading Democrats met to lay the groundwork for a Democratic Party organization in the state.

Before 2010, the party had been extremely successful in statewide elections for the past decade. In 1992, Carol Moseley Braun became the first African American woman to be elected to the United States Senate. Her election marked the first time Illinois had elected a woman, and the first time a black person was elected as a Democratic Party candidate to the United States Senate. A second African American Barack Obama Democratic Senator was elected in 2004, and later elected President of the United States in 2008. The party currently holds a majority in both the Illinois Senate and Illinois House of Representatives.

The Democratic Party of Illinois is run by a Democratic State Central Committee of 38 members, two from each of the state's 19 congressional districts. The Central Committee has four officers: a chairman, a vice-chair, a secretary, and a treasurer.

Calvin Sutker of Skokie served as state party chairman until 1986 when he lost his committeeman seat to reform Democrat Jeffrey Paul Smith.[1] Sutker was succeeded by Vince Demuzio, who served from 19861990 and is credited with rebuilding the Illinois Democratic Party.[2] Demuzio was then defeated by the then-chief of staff for Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, Gary LaPaille. Madigan himself succeeded LaPaille and is the current Chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois.

The Cook County Democratic Party represents voters in 50 wards in the city of Chicago and 30 suburban townships of Cook County. The organization has dominated Chicago politics (and consequently, Illinois politics) since the 1930s. It relies on a tight organizational structure of ward and township committeemen to elect candidates.

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The Texas Democratic Party is one of the two major political parties in the U.S. state of Texas, representing the Democratic Party. It is headquartered in Downtown Austin, Texas.[1]

Prior to the Annexation of Texas, the Democratic Party had a foothold in the politics of the region. A powerful group of men that called themselves the "Texas Association" served as an early prototype for the Democratic Party of Texas. The Texas Association drew its membership from successful merchants, doctors, and lawyers, often traveling from Tennessee. Many members of the Texas Association were close friends of Andrew Jackson, and most had strong ties to the Democratic Party. Similarly, most of the other settlers in Texas were from states in the south, and American southerners of this era generally held strong allegiances to the Democratic Party.[2]

In 1845, the 29th United States Congress approved the Texas Constitution and President James K. Polk signed the act admitting Texas as a state on December 29. In 1848, the party convention system was adopted, and it quickly became the primary method of selecting candidates for the Texas Democratic Party. In the period prior to the Civil War, national politics influenced the state partys perspective. Texas Democrats began to discard Jacksonian-nationalism in favor of the states' rights agenda of the Deep South. A conflict emerged within the Party between pro-Union Democrats and secessionists. During the war, supporters of the Union disappeared from the political scene or moved north. Those who stayed politically active reluctantly supported the Confederacy. During Reconstruction, the rift between Unionist and Secessionist Democrats remained. For a short period immediately after the war, the Texas Democratic Party was a formidable political force, but they quickly split apart because their positions on freedmen varied greatly; some supported full civil rights, while others opposed anything more than emancipation. As a result, Republicans captured both the governor's office and the Texas Legislature in 1869, but Republican political dominance in the post-Civil War era was short-lived. By 1872, the Texas Democrats had consolidated their party and taken over the Texas legislature.[3] For the remainder of the 19th century and well into the 20th, Democrats dominated Texas politics and Republicans were minor political players.

In the presidential election of 1928, anti-Catholicism in Texas and across the country swung the Lone Star State away from Democratic presidential nominee Al Smith, the first time it ever voted against a Democrat in a presidential election. However, it was not until the middle of the 20th century that the Democrats began to face a growing challenge from the Republican Party in earnest. The 1950s was a decade of factionalism and infighting for the Texas Democratic Party, mainly between liberal and conservative Democrats, and the Republicans managed to carry Texas for native Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952 and 1956. Cohesion returned to the party in the 1960s, and the Democratic ticket carried Texas in the 1960 presidential election with prominent Texas Senator Lyndon B. Johnson running for Vice President. In 1962, John B. Connally, a moderate Democrat, was elected Governor of Texas. The next year, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on a trip to Dallas created further impetus to bridge the gap between liberal and moderate Texas Democrats; Party unity was solidified with Johnson's ensuing Presidency and the drubbing of Barry Goldwater in the 1964 presidential election. In 1964, Johnson carried his home state with ease, but liberal forces in Texas were in decline. In the 1968 presidential election, Democrat Hubert Humphrey barely managed to win Texas.

In 1976, Jimmy Carter became the last Democratic presidential candidate to carry Texas, and the tide was clearly turning when Democrats lost the gubernatorial election of 1978. Bill Clements was the first Republican governor since Reconstruction. By the 1990s Republicans had gained a strong foothold in the state, and throughout the 21st century they have been largely victorious. Currently, both houses of the Texas Legislature feature Republican majorities. At the federal level, Republicans hold both of the state's Senate seats and 24 out of the possible 36 House of Representatives seats allotted to Texas.[4]

The Texas Democratic Party has not won a statewide election since 1994.[5]

The Texas Democratic Party is the primary organization responsible for increasing the representation of its ideological base in state, district, county, and city government. Its permanent staff provides training and resources for Democratic candidates within the state, particularly on grassroots organization and fundraising.[6] The Party organization monitors political discourse in the state and speaks on behalf of its members. The party employs a full-time Communications Director who is responsible for the organization's communications strategy, which includes speaking with established state and national media. Press releases regarding current issues are often released through the by permanent staff.[7] The party also maintains a website with updates and policy briefs on issues pertinent to its ideological base. Its online presence also includes Facebook and Twitter accounts, each of which has thousands of followers and is used to update followers on the most recent events affecting the party. The Party also employs several e-mail groups that send periodic updates to millions of followers.[4]

A major function of the Texas Democratic Party is to raise funds to maintain the electoral infrastructure within its organization. Funds are used to provide for a permanent staff, publish communication and election material, provide training to candidates, and to pay for legal services.

The organization hosts biennial conventions that take place at precinct, county, and state level. The purpose of the precinct convention is to choose delegates to the county convention, and the delegates who gather at the county conventions are mainly concerned with selecting delegates to the state convention. The purpose of the state convention is to appoint the state executive committee, adopt a party platform, and officially certify the party's candidates to be listed on the general election ballot. The State Democratic Executive Committee (SDEC) includes one man and one woman from each district, plus a chairman and a vice-chairman. The SDEC members are technically appointed, but they are voted on by the conventions delegates.[4] In presidential election years, the state convention also chooses delegates to go to the Democratic National Convention. Delegates also elect a state party chair. At the 2012 Texas Democratic Party Convention in Houston, delegates elected Gilberto Hinojosa as the new chair of the state party. Hinojosa is a former school board trustee, district judge, and county judge from Cameron County.[8] Hinojosa replaced retiring chair Boyd Richie, who had been chair since April 22, 2006.

In 2003, a group of Democratic state legislators referred to as the Texas Eleven fled to New Mexico and Oklahoma, to prevent the passage of dramatic redistricting legislation. Republicans had been pushing redistricting because Democrats had been sending more representatives to Congress, even though the state's voters had leaned Republican in recent years. U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay called for the lawful arrest of the Texas Eleven. Their absence prevented a quorum during a special 30-day session of the legislature; afterwards, when Senator John Whitmire conceded, the rest followed, because his presence on the Senate floor met quorum.

At the 2010 convention, Texas Democrats voted to keep the controversial Two-Step system. Most states use either a primary or a caucus in order to determine presidential nominees, but Texas runs an combination of both. The antipathy towards George W. Bush and the allure of a contentious race drew almost 3 million Democrats to the primary polls. During the Democratic Presidential caucuses, thousands of new Texas Democrats showed up and overwhelmed the old-guard party officials. Factions of the Texas Democrats complained that this populist outburst wrought havoc on the caucus process. Almost immediately after the results, Party regulars began calling to change the system or even to abolish the caucus altogether. In the end, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote, but Barack Obama's well-organized campaign won the caucus.[9][10]

The Texas Democratic Party holds twelve of the state's 36 U.S. House seats, 12 of the states 31 Texas Senate seats, and 55 of the states 150 Texas House of Representatives seats.

The following members of the U.S. House of Representatives are Democrats:[11][12]

The following Democrats represent their districts in the Texas Senate:[13][14]

The following Democrats represent their districts in the Texas House of Representatives:[15][16]

The following members of the State Board of Education are Democrats; they help oversee the Texas Education Agency:[17]

Members of the Texas Supreme Court and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals are elected in statewide, partisan elections. The sole statewide office currently held by the Democratic Party in Texas is a seat on the Court of Criminal Appeals; the incumbent has held the seat since 1993 and switched his party affiliation from Republican to Democratic in December 2013.[18]

Texas Democratic Party

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The Democratic Party of Georgia is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is one of the two major political parties in the state.

For over a century, the Democratic Party dominated Georgia state and local politics. From 1872 to 2002, the Democratic Party controlled the Governor's Mansion, both houses of the state legislature and most statewide offices.

After switching to the Republican Party in 1998, Sonny Perdue went on to defeat Democrat Roy Barnes in the 2002 gubernatorial election. Perdue's unexpected victory marked the beginning of a decline for the Democratic Party of Georgia.

Georgia House Speaker Tom Murphy, the longest serving Speaker in any state legislature, lost his bid for another term in the state House.[1] Four Democrats in the Georgia State Senate changed their political affiliation, handing the upper house to the GOP. And in 2004, the Democratic Party lost control of the Georgia House of Representatives, putting the party in the minority for the first time in Georgia history.

The Democratic Party of Georgia entered the 2010 elections with hopes that former Governor Roy Barnes could win back the Governor's Mansion. Polls showed a tight race between Barnes and Republican gubernatorial nominee Nathan Deal,[2] with some predicting a runoff election[3] However, on election day, Republicans won every statewide office.[4]

The Chairman of the Democratic Party of Georgia is DuBose Porter. Porter was elected in August 2013 via special election and was reelected in January 2015 to serve a full four-year term.

Seven individualsChairman DuBose Porter, First Vice Chair Nikema Williams, Wendy Davis, former state AFL-CIO President Richard Ray, Sally Rosser, State Representative Pamela Stephenson and former state Democratic Party Chairman David Worleywere elected to represent Georgia on the Democratic National Committee.

State Representative Stacey Abrams serves as Minority Leader in the Georgia House of Representatives.[5] State Senator Steve Henson serves as Minority Leader in the Georgia Senate.[6]

Officers of the Democratic Party of Georgia are elected by the state Democratic committee at a January meeting following each regular gubernatorial election.[7] Democratic Party of Georgia officers serve four-year terms, and there is no limit on the number of terms an individual can serve as a Democratic Party of Georgia officer. Below are the current officers of the Democratic Party of Georgia:

Four Democrats represent Georgia in the United States House of Representatives. The Democrats do not hold either of the two United State Senate seats. To date, the last Democratic senator from Georgia was Zell Miller, serving from 2000-2005.

Members of United States Congress

The Democratic Party of Georgia controls none of the fourteen state constitutional offices. The Democrats control 20 of the 56 senatorial seats and 63 of 180 state house seats. Two-year terms of office apply to both houses, and the entire membership of each body is elected at the same time in even-numbered years.

Since 1948, the Democrats have secured the state of Georgia 7 times, while the Republican party secured Georgia 8 times. However, during the past 6 presidential elections, the Democrats won the state of Georgia only once, in 1992. Bill Clinton won 43.47% of the vote while incumbent President George H.W. Bush carried 42.88%, while losing his quest for a 2nd term.

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