DPOC Chair Ada Briceño issued this year end report on the state of the party as 2019 came to a close.
A Year in Review
As we embark into the extraordinarily critical 2020 Presidential election year, it’s important to take a moment to reflect on 2019. Orange County Democrats experienced explosive growth over the past few years, and 2019 was no different.
Our 2019 accomplishments include:
* Orange County voter registration flipped blue, and keeps getting bluer. Democrats have gained nearly a full point lead over Republican registration in just 4 months, since flipping registration in August of 2019. We had unprecedented press coverage throughout the nation of our victory.
* Voter registration gaps have narrowed in all four battleground Congressional districts (but these elections could go down to a handful of votes we urgently need voter registration going strong).
* Voter registration flipped blue in several OC cities including Aliso Viejo, Costa Mesa, Cypress, and Westminster.
* We have endorsed an unprecedented 19 candidates for the March Primaries.
* Local Clubs are the backbone of Orange Countys Democratic efforts. In 2019 we welcomed six new clubs, a dramatic increase in leadership across OC: Arts and Advocacy Democratic Club, Buena Park Democrats, Feel the Bern Democratic Club, Lavender Democrats, Orange County Veterans Democratic Club, and Westminster Democratic Club!
* DPOC was front and center, in partnership with the ACLU, to successfully overturn an unreasonable and arbitrary Aliso Viejo city ordinance that barred voter registration on Sundays.
* Our annual operating budget grew by 35%.
* Our 2019 Truman Awards Dinner was a huge success. Net income jumped 43% above our (also very successful) 2018 Awards Dinner, thanks to our outstanding team of volunteer organizers and supporters.
* We invested in PDI to make field data accessible to clubs and activists for precinct walking, as well as to endorsed candidates to ensure strong field programs.
* We founded Adopt-A-Precinct, a monthly training series for field organizing.
* We founded Harnessing the Power of Women, a monthly series that recruits and trains women, especially young women and women of color, to expand and diversify our blue bench of political organizers and candidates.
* We were selected by DCCC for campaign offices.
* We were one of 12 counties to be selected by the California Democratic Party for a strong coordinated campaign, which includes multiple staff and offices.
* We partnered with the National Democratic Training Committee for a free one-day training workshop covering field, digital, media, and fundraising skills.
* In yet another clear signal of our sustained vitality, more Democrats are running for DPOC Central Committee than Republicans for OC GOP Central Committee.
We also mourned the passing of Democratic Party leaders whose powerful legacies continue to shape our work. We paid tribute to former DPOC Chair Frank Barbaro, whose mark on OC continues to this day, having been named one of OC’s Most Influential of 2019 by the Orange County Register. And we honored Conrad Tuohey, one of the founders of DPOC and its predecessor organization, Orange County Democrats, and whose family has remained active in Democratic organizing for three generations.
It’s clear: Your work is making a powerful impact. Our collective successes would not be possible without your hard work, and our shared belief in collective change.
In 2020, as our party takes the mantle of leadership as a dominant political force, we have a tremendous responsibility. Let’s challenge each other to think bigger. I am excited to build our party in partnership with you. Take your next leap so we can attain victory in 2020!