Alabama Democrats Face a Deadline for New Bylaws and Elections
Saturday is deadline day for the Alabama Democratic Party.
The Democratic National Committee ordered the state party to adopt new bylaws and hold new leadership elections by August 17th after national leaders rejected proposed bylaws last month. The dispute stemmed from a complaint after party elections last year which revealed the state bylaws were not aligned with those at the national level. At issue is representation for minority groups beyond African-Americans. The national party wants Alabama Democrats to make provisions to include Latino, Asian-American and LGBTQ members, among others, in party leadership.
Many political observers say state Democrats will blow through the Saturday deadline. So then what?
“I feel like they will sanction and Alabama decertify the chair of the party, Nancy Worley, and Randy Kelley, who is the vice chair, as DNC members,” Jim Spearman says. He’s a former executive director of the Alabama Democratic Party and current member of the state executive committee.
Spearman says that doesn’t mean Alabama would lose representation at the national level. There are other members from Alabama on the DNC. But he says if the state party is sanctioned, it’s unknown what would come after that.
“This happened in Georgia year ago and they basically came in and they worked with them and worked with them and nothing ever happened,” Spearman says. “So they just wiped out the whole sitting committee of officers and started over. That’s one option.”
Spearman says the possibility of ordering new leadership elections does not mean a takeover. Rather the national party can “correct” the state party when it’s out of compliance. Democrats in Alabama have struggled statewide in recent elections. Spearman says the current party struggles hampers the ability of members to make progress on that front.
“This is a leadership fight, kind of sausage-making actually,” Spearman says. “You just don’t want to see it sometimes, but it happens.”
Spearman says this dispute could have wider implications if it drags on. The party is up against a deadline on delegate selection plans for next year’s party convention.
“If we can’t have bylaws and plans to get on the ballot, there is good questions of whether we can have presidential candidates in the state,” Spearman says.
The DNC is expected to take up the bylaw issue at its summer meeting next week in San Francisco.
Photo by 7beachbum
Viral global TikToks: A twist on soccer, Tanzania’s Charlie Chaplin, hope in Gaza
TikToks are everywhere (well, except countries like Australia and India, where they've been banned.) We talk to the creators of some of the year's most popular reels from the Global South.
This painting is missing. Do you have it?
An important work from a rediscovered artist has been absent from public view since the 1970s. A New York curator is hunting for it.
Memory loss: As AI gobbles up chips, prices for devices may rise
Demand for memory chips currently exceeds supply and there's very little chance of that changing any time soon. More chips for AI means less available for other products such as computers and phones and that could drive up those prices too.
Brigitte Bardot, sex goddess of cinema, has died
Legendary screen siren and animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot has died at age 91. The alluring former model starred in numerous movies, often playing the highly sexualized love interest.
For Ukrainians, a nuclear missile museum is a bitter reminder of what the country gave up
The Museum of Strategic Missile Forces tells the story of how Ukraine dismantled its nuclear weapons arsenal after independence in 1991. Today many Ukrainians believe that decision to give up nukes was a mistake.
Jeffrey R. Holland, next in line to lead Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, dies at 85
Jeffrey R. Holland led the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, a key governing body. He was next in line to become the church's president.
