Massachusetts Democratic Party

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Massachusetts Democratic Party
Chairperson Thomas McGee
Senate leader Stanley Rosenberg
House leader Robert DeLeo
Headquarters Boston, Massachusetts
Ideology Liberalism
Progressivism
Social liberalism
National affiliation Democratic Party
Colors Blue
Seats in the Upper House
34 / 40
Seats in the Lower House
125 / 160
Website
www.massdems.org

The Massachusetts Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The state party chairman is Thomas McGee.[1]

Overview

Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Democratic State Committee is responsible for publicizing the platform of the Massachusetts Democratic Party, the state affiliate of the United States Democratic Party. According to the party charter, the State Committee is charged with conducting state-level campaigns for the Democratic Party, coordinating efforts to fill vacancies in nominating candidates to state and congressional offices, and creating and disseminating information regarding official Democratic Party policies and positions. The Committee also engages in fundraising initiatives to support its operations, and coordinates local caucuses and the Democratic State Conventions.

The State Committee comprises 160 elected members, and add-on and ex officio seats, all of whom must be registered Democrats. Current officers include Sen. Thomas McGee, Chairman; Debra Kozikowski, Vice-Chair; Raymond A. Jordan, Jr., Vice-Chair; Carol Aloisi, Secretary; Nicole LaChapelle, Treasurer; and Matt Fenlon, Executive Director. Non-officers include two men and two women from each state senatorial district, Democratic National Committee members from Massachusetts, and roughly 120 additional committee members comprising various underrepresented minority groups, including veterans, gay and lesbian citizens, and college-aged youth representatives.

Eighty of the State Committee members must be elected through Presidential primary ballots. The other 80 are elected at Senate district conferences by local town and ward committee members. All State Committee members serve four-year terms. Numerous subcommittees are affiliated with the Massachusetts Democratic State Committee, including the Affirmative Action and Outreach Committee, the By-Laws Committee, the Campaign Services Committee, the Charter Amendments Committee, the Communications Committee, the Credentials Committee, the Disability Outreach Committee, the Field Services Committee, the Finance Committee, the LGBT Outreach Committee, the Labor Outreach Committee, the Massachusetts Democratic Latino Caucus Committee, the Public Policy Committee, the Rules Committee, the Rural Committee, the Internship-Scholarship Committee, the Senior Outreach Committee, the Site Selection Committee, the State Judicial Council Committee, the Veterans and Military Families Outreach Committee, the Women's Outreach Committee, and the Youth Services Committee. Subcommittees are chaired by State Committee members.

History

The Massachusetts Democratic Party and the National Democratic Party trace their roots to the latter half of the 18th century, when politicians forged alliances based on common national interests. In 1792, Thomas Jefferson founded the Democratic-Republican Party, commonly referred to as the “party of the common man.” Jefferson’s new party was adamantly opposed to what it saw as the Federalist Party’s elitist agenda. Jefferson served two consecutive terms as the first Democratic Republican President of the United States beginning in 1800. James Madison, another Democratic-Republican, succeeded Jefferson in 1808, followed by fellow party member James Monroe in 1812. The party was briefly divided during the election of John Quincy Adams in 1824, in which four Democratic candidates ran for office. Andrew Jackson assumed the leadership of the party following this period, and reunified its constituents. Jackson defined the party’s platform and established the Democratic National Convention as a means of organizing and implementing the party’s agenda on a national scale. With consecutive presidential victories in 1828 and 1832, Jackson succeeded in solidifying the Democratic-Republicans as a powerful national political party. The name was simplified to the Democratic Party at the Democratic National Convention of 1844. The Civil War and the question of slavery divided many of the nation’s Democratic Party members. But as the 19th century was ending, the party found a new strength in an old ideal. The Democrats’ long-held suspicions of aristocratic leaders and the wealthy elite struck a chord with immigrants and working class citizens during the early half of the 19th century. This sentiment solidified the party’s ranks in the decades following the Civil War, particularly in Massachusetts, where Irish immigrants, rural farmers, fishermen, and skilled laborers flooded the city of Boston and the surrounding towns. At the same time, the Republican Party had emerged from the Civil War with strong northern support for its anti-slavery stance. As the 20th century unfolded, both parties would strengthen their ranks and form the current two-party system of American politics.

20th and 21st centuries

Despite numerous Republicans elected as Governor, the Democratic Party has been at the forefront of Massachusetts politics for much of the 20th century. Massachusetts Democrats, from John F. Kennedy to Deval Patrick, have played a prominent role in advancing the party’s agenda and prominence on a local and national scale. And as a result of this, Massachusetts hasn't voted for a Republican for President since 1984 when the Commonwealth voted for Republican President Ronald Reagan.

The 2006 elections solidified the Democratic Party’s dominance in Massachusetts. Currently, every Congressional delegate from Massachusetts is a Democrat. Democrats also occupy all constitutional offices in the Commonwealth’s state government, including Attorney General Martha Coakley, Auditor Suzanne Bump, Secretary of State William F. Galvin, and Treasurer Steve Grossman. The Massachusetts Democratic Party holds super-majorities in both the state House of Representatives and the state Senate.

On January 4, 2007, Deval Patrick was inaugurated as the first African American Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Patrick, a Democrat, lawyer, and former Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights under the Clinton Administration, was also the first Democratic Governor of Massachusetts to be elected to that position since Michael Dukakis’s term ended in 1991.

Current elected officials

Members of Congress

U.S. Senate

U.S. House of Representatives

Statewide offices

Legislative leadership

List of party chairmen

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Further reading

  • Abrams, Richard M. Conservatism in a Progressive Era: Massachusetts Politics 1900-1912. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1964
  • Brown, Richard D. Massachusetts: A Bicentennial History. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1978
  • Darling, Arthur B. Jacksonian Democracy in Massachusetts. The American Historical Review, Vol. 29, No.2. (Jan, 1924), pp. 271–287
  • Gamm, Gerald H. The Making of the New Deal Democrats: Voting Behavior and Realignment in Boston, 1920-1940. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1989
  • Goodman, Paul. The Democratic-Republicans of Massachusetts: Politics in a Young Republic. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1964
  • Hennessy, Michael E. Four Decades of Massachusetts Politics: 1890-1935. Norwood, Mass.: The Norwood Press, 1935
  • Merriam, C.E. State Central Committees: A Study of Party Organization. Political Science Quarterly, Vol. 19, No. 2. (June, 1904), pp. 224–233.
  • Robinson, William A. Jeffersonian Democracy in New England. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1916.

See also

References

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External links

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