Benton County Democratic Central Committee

Purpose of our Website

We hope you will find lots of useful information here, as well as a way to keep in tune with what Democrats are doing in Benton County.

Among other things, you will find an archive of our monthly newsletter The Democratic Reporter, links to other Democratic organizations, resources for Precinct Committee Officers (PCOs), and a calendar of local meetings.

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Message from the Chair

4th CD Caucus and Nominating Convention

These two events have been combined on Saturday May 17th at Eisenhower HS "Little Theatre" at 702 S. 40th, Yakima. The Nomination Convention for the 4th CD will begin at 8 am at which time all 4th CD, LDs/County PCO will vote to nominate and select a candidate for the open 4th CD Congressional Seat.

At 10 am all the 4th CD Delegates and seated Alternates will elect two members to the Democratic Judicial Review Board. They will also nominate and elect one Presidential Elector and one Alternate. They will then sub-caucus by Presidential Preference for the election of Congressional District Level NATIONAL Delegates and Alternates.

It should be an exciting time .....

State Convention

Then a few weeks later in Spokane on June 13th - 15th, Friday thru Sunday, will be the state convention. A variety of activates will occur during the three day event ... additional delegates & alternates will be selected to the National Convention, along with the passage of the State Party Platform and submitted Resolutions, the State Central Committee Meeting, a variety of Caucus meetings, and Committee meetings as well, along with a variety of candidate speeches and all the other hospitality activities unique to party conventions. Register as soon as possible to insure your space at the Convention. We'll post additional information here as it becomes available. And I'm certain the State Party website, www.wa-democrats.org will carry more information as well.

April was quite a busy month for the local Party; our LD Caucuses on April 5th with a record turnout of more than 700, our Candidate Reception at the Clarion with close to 300 people and our County Convention with close to 75. All in all, a pretty busy month! Our count indicates that close to 100 supporters helped in putting these events together. Some of our supporters did double and even triple duty; involved in all three events. We also had a large number of NEW supporters helping as well. It's most gratifying to see these new faces and I sincerely hope that their support and general participation in party activities continues.

Election years and particularly presidential years are busy. This year has been especially difficult with the confusion surrounding the presidential primary, multiple caucuses, and a separate County Convention. And the State's inauguration of the "top two" Primary to be held in August will only add to the confusion. Please read the article on "Nominating Conventions vs. the August Primary" for more explanation.

Our LDs within Benton County have elected 38 Delegates and 19 Alternates to the 4th Congressional District Caucus on May 17th in Yakima [see schedule for time and place]. The Delegates who emerge from this Caucus will be headed for Denver and the National Convention! We've been contacted by a number of these Delegates who want to do just that go to Denver! One of the Delegates headed to Yakima will be Elbert Timmes an Obama supporter from Precinct 690 in Kennewick. Elbert is an 82-year-old decorated World War II veteran who graciously led us in the Pledge of Allegiance at the County Convention. We particularly wish him well in his Delegate quest.

Bob Parazin
BCDCC Chair