The Alabama Democratic Party Is Not Every Democrat’s Party
If you have been keeping up with politics in Alabama, then you are well aware of the fact that the Alabama Democratic Party (ADP) is one hot mess. The present leadership is not favored by many members of the ADP, who are frustrated with the violations that are repeated over and over with no respect for the State Democratic Executive Committee (SDED), who are the governing body of the ADP. These challenges to the Democratic National Committee (DNC) go back years. These problems did not begin with ADP Chairman Randy Kelley. There has been a hostile environment between Kelley and former Senator Doug Jones since the controversy that transpired between Jones and former Chair Nancy Worley.
The constant interference that comes from the Alabama Democratic Conference (ADC) is a major problem that Chairman Kelley has refused to address. Joe Reed, the President of the ADC, is also the Vice Chair of Minority Affairs with the ADP. The ADC called itself the “Black Caucus” of the ADP, however they are not in the ADP Bylaws. The ADC have their own officers and tax ID number, which makes it a separate entity from the ADP. There is a question as to why the ADP leadership insists upon combining the ADP with the ADC at State Party meetings. The ADC have their own meeting, of which no one in the ADP is allowed to attend.
Mr. Reed oversteps his office as Vice Chair of Minority Affairs at the State Party meetings with his bully tactics that offend many of the members of the SDEC and Democrats in the galley. Mr. Reed has made a practice of dominating a mic with his threats and insults that Chairman Kelley has chosen to treat as acceptable behavior. He is clearly out of order and should be asked to sit down. There are too many times that a member of the SDEC will call for a “point of order” and is instructed by the Chair to sit down. This is not only rude but an unprofessional violation of Robert’s Rules of Order.
The duo of Kelley and Reed has damaged the ADP to a point of destruction that only a clean slate of leadership will be able to rebuild the Party back to where our principles are respected and the Bylaws are followed. It is a normal procedure that when the meeting is called to order, Mr. Reed will immediately call for a motion to suspend the rules that is seconded by a member of ADC who is serving on the SDEC at the pleasure of Mr. Reed’s illegal appointment to the seat. Thereafter, the Bylaws are totally ignored, and any objection is void.
Anyone on the outside looking in would ask, “Why doesn’t the SDEC ask for the resignation of Kelley and put a stop to this unruly behavior?” The SDEC would have to have a majority to meet the requirements to follow this through. Right before the last vote was taken on the present Bylaws, the majority of SDEC were not in favor or, but Mr. Reed took it upon himself to handpick his own people from the ADC and placed twelve members on the SDEC. Chairman Kelley did not remove these twelve members after being alerted that they were illegally appointed to the committee.
This was a big violation of the Bylaws. The members of the SDEC are elected by their District to serve to represent the people from that District. NO ONE has the privilege of appointing a member to the SDEC. Not only did Reed violate the Bylaws, but he took the privilege of these twelve seats away from the people in that District to choose their own representative. The goal was to get the Bylaws passed that he and Kelley wanted, which were very unpopular with the SDEC, and they succeeded by breaking the rules.
These particular Bylaws eliminated several important caucuses, including the Disability Caucus, which Reed claimed was “taking power away from the Black Caucus,” and also the Youth Caucus, which was one of the most active and growing caucuses in the ADP, and other diversity caucuses. When members of the SDEC filed a challenge with the DNC, the ADP were instructed to reinstate the eliminated caucuses. Chairman Kelley and Mr. Reed ignored the DNC decision in part, and the SDEC is still fighting two years later to reinstate the Disability Caucus.
There are motions that have gone unheard for almost two years that have been properly submitted to be added to the meeting agenda for a vote that would include reinstatement of the Disability Caucus, and adding a Women’s Caucus, Labor Caucus, and Veterans’ Caucus to the Bylaws. All three times, the vote has not taken place and has been tabled until the next meeting.
These unsettling circumstances have caused a great division inside the Democratic Party that has been racially motivated and not without causing harm to our candidates, the county chairs’ ability to recruit candidates, and local party membership. There are many Democrats in every county of Alabama, however they have been so frustrated by the State Party division that they do not want to participate in county party affairs. To try to counteract some of the State Party rhetoric, the County Chairs have formed their own group, unaffiliated with the ADP, called the Alabama Democratic County Chairs Association (ADCCA). It consists of a Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, and Treasurer for the State charter, and each congressional district has its own Chair and Vice Chair. The ADCCA is determined to rebuild the Party one district at a time to include the Democrats in every district to feel proud to be a Democrat.
The Republicans have redefined the Democratic Party to the voters by false propaganda about abortion, gun control, and other issues. Local preachers in some churches have misused their pulpits to intimidate their church into believing that Democrats are not Christians.
Even when there are solid, qualified Democrats on the ballot, the straight ticket voting defeats the purpose of choice in Alabama. Alabama is one of the poorest states in the nation, and at the bottom of everything that affects the lives of every Alabamian. The Republican regime that has a strong hold on Alabama has not made Alabama grow or become a more progressive state. To keep voting for the same thing will not produce positive change.
This election, the Democrats have good candidates up and down the ballot with no help from the ADP. The ADCCA is working hard to promote the candidates and get the information out to the voters. This is the way it will be until a leadership change is made with the Alabama Democratic Party. It seems this leadership would rather burn down the house so they can rule over the ashes. Today’s Alabama Democratic Party is not the future of tomorrow’s Alabama Democratic Party that will remind the blue collar workers, Veterans, minorities, truck drivers, teachers, waitresses, daycare workers, women, disabled, elderly, LGBGQ+ and all of those who have been silenced and left out in Alabama will have a voice and will be heard. Change will start with Democrats voting in November. Change is coming.
Lynda Kirkpatrick