County Democrats choose new leadership during convention
By Joey Pitchford
Published in News on April 8, 2017 11:30 PM
Full Size
News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Chair Ernestine Wooten, second from the left, smiles as Mayor Chuck Allen makes a joke during his welcome speech at the Wayne County Democratic Party convention Saturday at the Wayne County Courthouse.
Full Size
News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Commissioner Ed Cromartie and chair Ernestine Wooten speak before the Wayne County Democratic Party convention Saturday in courtroom one of the Wayne County Courthouse.
Full Size
News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Rep. Larry Bell speaks during the Wayne County Democratic Party Convention Saturday in courtroom one of the Wayne County Courthouse.
The Wayne County Democratic Party elected new officials at its convention Saturday, and selected members of the party's state executive committee.
Held at the Wayne County Courthouse, the convention drew delegates from 14 of the county's 15 organized Democratic districts. After opening with a musical selection, N.C. House Rep. Larry Bell stepped up to speak.
Bell began by announcing that he will not run for a seat in the House again, urging Democratic hopefuls to begin preparing for campaign season.
He said that the time had come for him to step aside and let someone else take his place, and that anyone looking to do so would need to pay close attention to their campaign strategy.
"What we need to do is what's called a grassroots campaign," he said. "We need to go door-to-door, house-to-house, street-to-street and let people know that we want to turn this state around. It is imperative that we do this."
Following Bell's speech, the gathered delegates began the process of electing new officials. The party nomination committee, led by Wayne County Commissioners Ed Cromartie and John Bell, nominated Barbara Dantonio to succeed presiding county chair Ernestine Wooten.
No one was nominated on the floor, and Ms. Dantonio was elected by affirmation.
Next up came the position of first vice chair. The committee elected Viola Figueroa for the role, but she declined the position, saying that accepting it would violate the state Democratic party plan of organization.
Senator Don Davis, who acted as parliamentarian for the convention, clarified that under the plan of organization, the first vice chair must be of a different gender and preferably race than the chair. Mrs. Figueroa said this is to promote diversity within the party, and decided it would be best to refuse the nomination in deference to those rules.
As a result, Willie Battle, who was nominated for the position on the floor, was the only nominee and was elected by affirmation.
Mrs. Figueroa was quickly nominated on the floor for the position of second vice chair, necessitating a vote between her and committee nominee Valerie Conyers.
After a short caucusing period, Mrs. Figueroa was elected with 75 votes to Mrs. Conyers' 22.
The third and final vice chair race came between committee nominee Brian King and Seth Woodard, whom Mrs. Figueroa nominated from the floor. Woodard won the position with 88 of the 97 total votes, King receiving nine.
Next came the treasurer position, for which there were three nominees. Committee nominee Trebor Jackson competed with floor nominees Donna Stevenson and Constance Corum. After the votes were tallied, no candidate had reached the 49.5 votes necessary to cinch the election, which meant that Mrs. Corum, the lowest vote-getter, was removed from the ballot. In the ensuing two-candidate election, Mrs. Stevenson won with 60 votes to Jackson's 37.
The final position was that of secretary, and this time there would be no discussion or calculating votes.
Beatrice Jones, the committee nominee, was enthusiastically elected by affirmation, accompanied by applause from the delegates.