First, you must apply after April 21, 2008 to declare your candidacy by downloading the State Delegate application form (PDF) from the Texas Democratic Party site, filling it out, getting it notarized and delivering it to the TDP between April 21st and May 21st at 5:00 pm. Do not send it BEFORE the start or you'll have to do it all over again. They won't be returning them for re-submission, so do it right the first time. Coming in early could get yours disqualified just as coming in late would.
A point about the form:
There are three types of Delegates for which a person can run. Everyone should check the first and third category because everyone qualifies for them.
The first category is "Pledged Senatorial District" for election by your fellow Clinton or Obama folks in your Senate District. These are the 126 delegates allocated by the primary. More about this later in this post.
The second category is for 25 Pledged Party/Elected Officials. The division of Obama/Clinton in this group will be allocated by the sign-in at the State Convention.
The Nominations Committee considers elected officials who have applied in this order: Democratic mayors (even if elected non-partisan) in cities over 250,000. State legislators, then other state and local Democratic officials (these must be elected in a partisan election).
So who is a party official? Any SDEC member, County Chair and Precinct Chair is eligible to apply. You must CURRENTLY hold those positions.
Keep in mind, that these slots are filled in a descending priority. Even though you qualify as a Precinct Chair, the seats are gone way up the list.
The third category is for consideration as one of the 42 At-Large seats. The division of Obama/Clinton in this group will be allocated by the sign-in at the State Convention.
The At-Large are used to balance the gender, ethnicity and affirmative action goals for the delegation. These are for the entire delegation of 228.
We need to end with:
72 Hispanic
54 African American
39 Youth (under 35)
14-18 LGBT
9 Asian American
1 Native American
How many races can I compete in?
Every district has a different number of seats and those seats were allocated to Clinton and Obama based on the March 4th vote. On top of that, every district must balance gender to the best of their ability. Those assignments are in this chart:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pYaTYsIKgs2GQFH2uM4QnWw
Depending on where you live and your Presidential preference, you may have a better chance than someone living where your candidate didn't fare well or there aren't many slots.
And if you support Obama and you live in SD 3 or SD 31, you might lose just by the Clinton delegation electing someone of your gender, since the Obama delegate must be opposite gender of Clinton's and the Clinton folks elect first.
So how do I get elected?
You get elected by campaigning. Your voters are the Obama or Clinton delegates in your Senate District that were elected at the County/SD conventions. Realize that if you are in a County or SD in an urban area that includes other counties or a multi-county district in rural Texas, your voters are everyone in the SD, not just your county. Use every method you can: phoning, mailers, door-to-door.
How are the elections conducted and when?
In each Senate District, there will be a Senate District caucus beginning at 3:00 pm Friday. The first order of business is electing Committee members (one person for each committee). They are elected n this order:
1) Credentials Committee
2) Platform Committee
3) Resolution Committee
4) Rules Committee
5) Nominations Committee for SDEC officers and SDEC members. Democratic National Committee members, and Presidential Electors
6) Recommendation for State Committeeman
7) Recommendation for State Committeewoman
8) Nominations Committee for At-Large Delegates
9) Recommendation for Presidential Elector (2 Electors if you're in SD 13, SD 14, or SD 23)
The caucus must recess at 5:00 p.m. After the Friday night session, the caucus reconvenes. So expect to be up very, very late for these elections.
When all the above elections are done, you get to your election for Delegate. FINALLY, You get to run!
At this point the Obama and Clinton part ways into their respective groups.
First, where necessary, there is a coin toss to decide if you have the male or female election first or second. Then you rotate genders until all seats are filled. Alternate elections are last. The candidate who won the district gets to go first where the gender is to be decided in uneven districts. For example, in SD 14 the Clinton caucus cannot elect their third Delegate until Obama elects their fifth, since Clinton is opposite gender of the Obama fifth.
Alternates were assigned gender by a drawing.
Anyone of the appropriate gender can self nominate themselves for each election. (You can run in every election in your SD where your gender is eligble until you finally win one or all are filled.)
There is a run-off between the two highest voter getters in each election for each delegate slot.
Where do I get a list of delegates?
Once the Texas Democratic Party has entered all the delegates into a database, they will be available. You also might be able to get a list earlier from a local Party source if your district was wholly in one county.
The Presidential Campaigns will also be able to assist in obtaining the list. |
