Open Letter: Regarding the Franklin County Democratic Party

The local Democratic party, like the national party, is in shambles. Locally, there is no clear platform. There is infighting, factionalism, and backroom dealmaking. There is no structured process for endorsements - or method as to what races will be endorsed.

This can all be easily fixed. It starts with listening to constituents, developing goals based on platform issues, and creating a structure and a culture where all members of the organization can participate fairly.

Worthington, like many cities in the region, has nonpartisan elections for city council. When I first ran for council in 2011, I was interviewed by the Franklin County Democratic Party (FCDP) endorsement committee. They decided not to endorse anyone in the Worthington council race, citing Worthington voters should make the decision at the ballot box. There was a mix of Republicans and Democrats on Worthington council, and on the ballot that year. At that point, it would have been helpful for the FCDP to provide a list of all the Democratic candidates (not endorsements), which was my request to the committee.

I believe the party does not need to endorse candidates in nonpartisan races. Instead, they should provide a vetted list of all the Democratic candidates and let the voters do their own research and decide for themselves.

The endorsement process was sloppy and subjective and the committee was uncertain about whether to endorse, provide a list of Democratic candidates, or stay out of it completely.

For my re-election campaign in 2015, I decided not to interview with the party because they said they would not get involved in Worthington elections. However, they endorsed one candidate anyways.

In my 2019 re-election campaign, the FCDP had a change of strategy for some reason. They came out strong with a full slate of endorsed candidates (three endorsements for three seats). They did not invite me (a two-term incumbent) to interview, offered no explanation and would not return my calls. Even though the party machine was promoting the endorsed slate, I won by one vote.

After that, I appealed to the FCDP again to only provide a vetted list of Democrats. It was clear they were going to endorse candidates for local races. I discussed with FCDP leadership there needs to be a more structured approach to the endorsement process.

I provided them with a scoring matrix based on best practices from other local parties around the state. The matrix included some of the following:

·       Are you a registered Democrat?

·       Are you an incumbent / have you ever been elected to office?

·       List the Democratic activities, organizations, campaigns you have participated in.

·       Employment history and background.

·       Do you currently have funds raised and available to use?

·       If endorsed, will you help fund the county party’s endorsement mailer/outreach?

·       Why are you running for this seat? What is your motivation?

·       Why do you feel that you are qualified for this position?

·       Identify three (3) City/County (or District) wide priorities that you would place special emphasis on (align them with the county or state platform).

·       What is your campaign platform? Please give a brief description of each.

For my 2023 re-election campaign, the endorsement committee did not invite me (a three-term incumbent) to interview, selected a non-Democrat to endorse over the other incumbent Democrat, and gave no explanation. Once again, they could have provided a list of Democratic candidates and let the Worthington voters decide for themselves. At the very least, they could have used the matrix I provided. But they didn’t.

I am not strictly opposed to the FCDP endorsing in local nonpartisan races, but they need to have a better endorsement process and then communicate the reasons for their selection. Instead, they are sloppily playing political Red Rover, breaking the party’s solidarity.