Delaware Democrats Elect Leadership & Adopt 2017 State Party Platform

Press Release

Delaware Democrats Elect Leadership & Adopt 2017 State Party Platform

DOVER – Democrats from across Delaware have elected longtime party activist and former Executive Director Erik Raser-Schramm as the new Chairman of the State Party at its quadrennial convention Saturday at Delaware Tech’s Terry Campus.

Raser-Schramm, 39, succeeds John Daniello, who is retiring after leading the Party since 2005, making him one of the longest-serving state party chairs in the nation.

“Chairman Daniello deserves an enormous amount of credit for his stewardship of our party over the last 12 years,” said Raser-Schramm. “I learned a tremendous amount working alongside him and I am honored to take the reins and continue building a strong, inclusive coalition of Democratic leaders in all three counties and the City of Wilmington.”

Raser-Schramm has been involved with the Delaware Democratic Party at various levels since 2002 and has led a number of local and statewide races, most recently leading Stephanie Hansen’s special election victory in February, a high-stakes race for the Senate majority which garnered national attention. He also represented Delaware as a Clinton delegate at the 2016 Democratic National Convention.

“The hard work starts today,” Raser-Schramm said. “And it starts with helping our legislative leaders in Dover balance our state budget responsibly, in a way that preserves funding levels and critical core services that our students, educators and working men and women deserve.”

Joining Raser-Schramm in Party leadership are Vice-Chairwoman Betsy Maron and Vice-Chairman Jim Hussey.

Maron has served previously as the New Castle County Democratic Committee Chair. In addition to her campaign work, she has provided pro bono legal representation to the state and county parties on various issues.

Hussey has served as the Vice-Chairman since 2004. In addition to his in-depth knowledge of the party, he has worked alongside Delaware’s labor leaders to promote and strengthen our labor unions.

“I’m humbled to have the opportunity to continue serving the Delaware Democratic Party,” Hussey said. “I look forward to working alongside Erik and Betsy to build on our victories in Dover as well as working to stop the erosion of trust in government given the regressive, un-American policies coming out of Washington. ”

The Delaware Democratic Party has long stood for diversity and equality across economic status, race, gender, and sexual orientation. Those values are reflected not only by the newly elected leadership slate but also by the passage of the most inclusive platform in State Party history.

The platform is the culmination of over a year’s worth of hard work and dedication on the part of Delaware’s Democrats. In the process of drafting the platform, the committee was committed to ensuring Democrats from up and down the state had a chance to give meaningful input to the platform. Hundreds of comments were submitted throughout the four subdivision meetings and two public comment meetings.

“Throughout the course of the platform process, we were thoughtful in representing the wide range of views held by Delaware’s Democrats, tied together by the common themes of inclusivity and opportunity,” Maron said. “We have a lot of work to do to bring our country back together, but I have unwavering faith in our ability to engage and empower Delawareans to help us fight to ensure our economy works for everyone instead of just those at the top as well as to overcome these divisive times.”

The Preamble of the Party’s Platform states:

We believe we are stronger when we have an economy that works for everyone—an economy that grows incomes for working people, creates good-paying jobs, and puts a middle-class life within reach for more Delawareans. We need an economy that prioritizes long-term investment over short-term profit-seeking, rewards the common interest over self-interest, and promotes innovation and entrepreneurship.

We, the Democratic Party of Delaware, dedicate ourselves to maintaining and improving our leadership in government. We encourage participation of all Delawareans in our party. We support candidates that promote personal freedom, economic and educational opportunity, efficient and effective government, and justice for all. We believe that cooperation is better than conflict, unity is better than division, empowerment is better than resentment, and bridges are better than walls.

For the first time in Party history, the platform includes:

A $15 minimum wage;
Fighting and overturning Citizens United;
Fighting wealth and income inequality;
A commitment to ending Super PACs;
Equal pay for equal work; Ending mass incarceration;
Working toward debt-free college;
Expanding and investing in green energy;
A commitment to mental health and substance abuse treatment;
and, Wall Street reform.

Delaware Democrats also elected,

Linda Cavanaugh, Secretary
Helene Keeley, Treasurer
Kristin Dwyer, National Committeewoman
Sean Finnigan, National Committeeman

To learn more about the Party Platform, visit www.deldems.org. To keep up to date with the Party on social media, follow us on Facebook and Twitter.