DPCA Global Meeting

Report from the Chair and Vice Chair

DACH Vice-Chair Peter Butterfield & Chair Anne-Shelton Aaron indicating the 3½ votes held by each at the DPCA representing Switzerland [photo from The Democrat Abroad]

Held over the weekend of April 30 – May 3 in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, the meeting re-elected existing officers and a new secretary to serve for the 2015 – 2017 term:

• Chair: Katie Solon (Germany)
• Vice-Chair: Ken Sherman (Canada)
• Secretary: Julia Bryan (Czech)
• Treasurer: Art Schankler (Serbia)
• Counsel: Orlando Vidal (UAE)

The election results were not at all pre-determined. Katie promoted her years of activist experience and the past two years of hard work with Democratic leadership in the states and the DNC. Showing DPCA voters how she would get things done, Katie prevailed in the election for chair by a good margin.


More details on the DPCA are available in The Democrat Abroad, May 2015 newsletter available at https://www.democratsabroad.org.

2016 Global Presidential Primary Voting

A key item on the agenda was the approval of a new Delegate Selection Plan, now submitted to the DNC. This defines how DA will choose its 21 delegates to the Democratic Convention in Philadelphia next July. The plan in brief:

1. March 1 – 8, 2016: Global Primary events worldwide for all members to participate in selecting the Democratic presidential candidate
2. April to early May: Each of the 3 DA regions (EMEA, Asia/Pacific, Americas) shall hold a caucus to select 12 delegates
3. May 14: Democrats Abroad Global Convention, Berlin, will select the 7 remaining delegates (and including the Chair and Vice-Chair that determines our 21 delegates
4. July 25 – 30: Democratic National Convention, Philadelphia

The Global Primary is an important event for Democrats Abroad, participation is a factor in deciding the number of delegates representing Americans living abroad will be invited to the convention. We will be providing much more information on the subject leading up to Spring 2016.

The meeting participants received inspirational speeches from Senator Cory Booker (NJ) and U.S. Ambassador to the D.R. James Brewster.

What This Means for the 2016 Elections

The team of officers elected at the DPCA are responsible for promoting Democratic candidates and leading Democrats Abroad to get out the vote in 2016. This will involve:

• Close collaboration with the DNC and state leadership on the strategy for electing Democrats
• A multi-state strategy, applied well in 2014 even though many races were lost, which focuses on contested states where the vote from abroad can make a difference the race for president or for senator
• A coherent communication strategy, using different media to reach as many Americans abroad as possible
• Robust phone-bank efforts to talk directly with as many Americans abroad as possible; 2014 efforts were reviewd and the DPCA will set a phone-bank team in place starting this year for the 2016