New and Familiar Faces Elected at Last Week's County Convention

County Convention Results

We had an excellent turn out for our County Convention and General Meeting last week. The inclement weather may have kept the number of attendees at the Super 8 on the low side, but they were joined by over 20 people on Zoom.

The business before the County Convention was to elect the members of the County Committee (sometimes called the Executive Committee).

After electing William Keith as Chair of the Convention, he proposed a slate for consideration. Discussion followed, which included additions to the slate, after which the full slate was approved unanimously.

The slate included Democratic elected officials and candidates at the last election for County, State legislative, and US House races, along with a mix of serving committee chairs and precinct delegates. Here’s the full list:

Candidates/Elected officials:

• Callie Barr

• Kim Corcoran

• Jennifer Kelly

• Lisa Mattila

• Tom Wright

• John Pekkala

• Casey VerBerkMoes

• Glenn Anderson

• Gretchen Janssen

Additional slots:

• William J. Keith

• Lois Gemignani

• Barb Turuc

• Brian Hoduski

• Valorie Troesch

• Steve Blackburn

• Pat Tikkanen

• Barb Manninen

• Candy Peterson

• Becky Darling

• Brian Irizarry

• Craig Waddell

• Brendan Leddy

• Bill Fink

• Keith Wanhaaho

• Mary Raber

• Amy Wisti

• Jan Cole

• Heather Mroz

The newly elected Committee was then called in to meeting to consider naming officers and committee chairs.

The officers - William Keith, Chair; Lois Gemignani, Co-Chair; Barb Turuc, Secretary; and Margaret Landsparger, Treasurer were all re-elected. Committee Chairs Brian Hoduski (Candidate Recruitment), Valorie Troesch (Rules), and Steve Blackburn (Communications) were also re-elected, and joined by new committee chairs Brian Irrizary (Events), Elise Matz (Organizing) and Nancy Verive (Policy and Resolutions).

Outgoing Committee Chairs - for Events Horst Schmidt; for Organizing Audrey Girard; and for Policy & Resolutions Pat Tikkanen, were recognized and thanked for their service in those roles, and we’d again like to acknowledge and thank these three for all they’ve done!

The Finance chair remains open. Also, it was noted that Margaret has indicated she will be stepping away from the Treasurer role after the 2025 Spring Fling. Mick Sheridan, the current Membership chair was not in attendance at the meeting and it was decided to defer discussion on Membership until the next General Meeting.

Al Williams, Candidate for MDP Chair, Addressed Our General Meeting Last Week

Al Williams, Detroit native and long time political and community organizer, attended our County Convention and General Meeting via Zoom last week. During our General Meeting he spoke at length about his history of involvement with the MDP and his connection to the UP (and to Houghton County in particular). He is running to be the Chair of the MDP, replacing Lavora Barnes who has announced she is stepping down. He is the first MDP Chair candidate to speak to us, having reached out early last week requesting to speak at our General Meeting.

Williams is a graduate of Morehouse College in Atlanta, where he earned a degree in political science. His sister spent some of her college years at Finlandia University, and Williams visited her here, and has fond memories of Houghton County.

He has served in a number of roles, including campaign organizing and consulting for legislators in Michigan and other states. In 2013 he was hired by the Michigan Democratic Party as the Statewide Membership Director.

Williams spoke with some passion about the organizing spirit he would bring to the job if he were elected to the Chair of the Michigan Democratic Party. He emphasized the importance of building the party back from the ground up. He advocated for the importance of supporting local county parties, including assisting county parties in expanding their own memberships.

If you weren’t able to hear Mr. Williams speak, and would like to learn more about him you can find a short bio at the website for the African American Leadership Awards.

This MLive article from last month names four contenders for MDP Chair, including Mr. Williams. We would welcome all candidates to speak to our membership, whether at a monthly meeting or in a meet-and-greet.

Candidates for Chair of the Democratic National Committee

Lavora Barnes is not the only Democratic leader stepping down. The position of Chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) is also opening up, with current Chair Jaime Harrison leaving the role.

The national party has announced that the election for the new Chair will take place February 1st. Four candidate forums are expected to be held next month. The election will take place among the members of the DNC. The DNC is composed of the chairs and vice-chairs of each state Democratic Party Committee and over 200 members elected by Democrats in all 57 US states and territories.

The DNC is our national leadership board. It is responsible for coordinating strategy to support Democratic Party candidates throughout the country for local, state, and national office. The DNC also works to establish the "party brand" and to formulate the party platform.

Announced contenders for Chair are:

• Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley

• Minnesota State Party Chair Ken Martin

• Wisconsin State Party Chair Ben Wikler

• New York State Senator James Skoufis

• Former Maryland Senate candidate Robert Houton

• Executive Member, Newton, MA Democratic City Committee Jason Paul

Our Next Monthly Meeting

Our general party member meetings are the first Wednesday of every month at the Super 8 Motel in Houghton at 7:00 p.m. unless otherwise announced. You can also attend by Zoom - your email newsletter will have the Zoom details for each meeting.

You do not need to be a member to attend our meetings, and we would welcome you to join us.

WHAT: Potluck at 6 PM, Meeting immediately following the County Convention which begins at 7 PM.

WHERE: In the conference room at the Houghton Super 8, and by Zoom

WHEN: January 8th

Governmental & Community Meetings

TUE DEC 10

This month's regular meeting of the Houghton County Board of Commissioners is this afternoon at 4 PM in the Conference Room on the fifth floor of the Houghton County Courthouse. Find more information on the Board's webpage (find the Microsoft Teams virtual meeting info in the Agenda).

The Calumet Village Council will hold its Work Session and Council Meeting tonight beginning at 6 PM in the Village Council Chambers.

WED DEC 11

The Houghton City Council meets at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The Meeting Agenda can be found in the Searchable Document Center of the Council's website.