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Last night, the Executive Committee of the Ohio Democratic Party elected Chris Redfern chair. Chris Redfern is on the record as accepting contributions from Wal-Mart. He also will continue to hold his seat in the House of Reps., which makes him a part-time chair. The issue came down to process, as interim chair Rhine McLin was shouted down when her process for the election -- written ballots -- was approved by voice vote. Instead, a roll call was taken to both reject her process and then to accept a process of voting by standing.
As Stephanie Tubbs Jones stated, the paper ballots were critical because questions had been raised that some members of the Executive Committee had been intimidated or their jobs threatened. She was seconded by a woman who has served for many years on the rules committee of the National Democratic Party, who said that a paper ballot was not contrary to the rules and was not a secret ballot. The roll call put the members on the spot.
I personally felt that several very loud men were disrespectful towards both McLin and Tubbs Jones, who are black women. But this may be the way they conduct their business. Among the people who stood for Redfern were Ray Miller and Mary Jo Kilroy -- there were many others, I mention them only because they are elected officials in Franklin County. Lloyd Mahaffey, the current UAW CAP director, did not show up to vote. I spoke with the wife of one of the Executive Committee members, Sharon Ford, whose husband has voted for Lieberman twice now, and she was shocked into tears. The Lieberman coalition, which had called the members of the Executive Committee, really thought they had the votes.
This is just what I witnessed -- I am no political analyst -- but thought I should follow-up on my request from yesterday’s CIRCA meeting given our endorsement of the Democracy for Democrats forum. Other members from our group were there, and they can give their own perspective on this. You can read more at the Ohio Honest Elections website, www.ohiohonestelections.org.
As Stephanie Tubbs Jones stated, the paper ballots were critical because questions had been raised that some members of the Executive Committee had been intimidated or their jobs threatened. She was seconded by a woman who has served for many years on the rules committee of the National Democratic Party, who said that a paper ballot was not contrary to the rules and was not a secret ballot. The roll call put the members on the spot.
I personally felt that several very loud men were disrespectful towards both McLin and Tubbs Jones, who are black women. But this may be the way they conduct their business. Among the people who stood for Redfern were Ray Miller and Mary Jo Kilroy -- there were many others, I mention them only because they are elected officials in Franklin County. Lloyd Mahaffey, the current UAW CAP director, did not show up to vote. I spoke with the wife of one of the Executive Committee members, Sharon Ford, whose husband has voted for Lieberman twice now, and she was shocked into tears. The Lieberman coalition, which had called the members of the Executive Committee, really thought they had the votes.
This is just what I witnessed -- I am no political analyst -- but thought I should follow-up on my request from yesterday’s CIRCA meeting given our endorsement of the Democracy for Democrats forum. Other members from our group were there, and they can give their own perspective on this. You can read more at the Ohio Honest Elections website, www.ohiohonestelections.org.