Let me take a second to introduce myself so that the first words to come to your mind aren’t “Who is this girl and why is she babbling?” Well, to answer the initial question, my name is Becca Sammon, and I am your brand spanking new Recording Secretary. First, I want to thank everyone who supported me, and told me that I could do it! You guys know who you are and you are absolutely awesome! I am quite honored to serve with such phenomenal young leaders as Representative Tony Payton, Jr., Representative Chelsa Wagner, Timmy Brennan, Tara Reynolds, Alex Reber and Dan Tyman.
While I am proud to be from NEPA (Luzerne County!), I went to college at Temple University, and law school at the University of Pittsburgh, so I have spent significant amounts of time on both ends of our great commonwealth. I am a proud member of Phi Sigma Sigma Sorority, and a HUGE Temple Basketball fan. (GO OWLS!)
I need your help to accomplish one of my first tasks as Recording Secretary. It is absolutely necessary for our constitution to be revised. In order to successfully achieve this goal, we need some quality committee members, and we need to start NOW. In order to comply with the current Constitution and By-Laws, we must present any changes to the membership 90 days in advance, thus, if we want to vote on new by-laws at our September convention, these must be submitted to the membership by the middle of July.
The ideal committee member would be hard working, dedicated, and ready to get to work straight away. While it would be great to have some people with some legal training, I think that the best possible board would have people with varied knowledge bases. If you are interested in serving on this committee, please contact me at becca102777@aol.com. I promise a great experience, and would be an excellent resume builder. Come on, you know you want to!
Looking forward to working with each of you!
Peace,
~Becca
Recording SecretaryPennsylvania Young Democrats
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
PAYD Elects New Leadership!
The Pennsylvania Young Democrats announce the election of a new Executive Committee headed by two of the commonwealth’s brightest rising stars.
State Representative Tony Payton Jr. (left) of Philadelphia was chosen as PAYD’s new president and State Representative Chelsa Wagner (right) of Pittsburgh was selected as PAYD’s new vice-president in a vote attended by Young Democrats from across Pennsylvania this past Saturday in Harrisburg.
“We are honored to have attracted leaders like Tony and Chelsa to guide our organization into 2008. Their enthusiasm to serve as our chief officers confirms our past record of accomplishment and strengthens our reputation as Pennsylvania's premiere political organization for youth,” said Paul McKrell, PAYD Executive Director.
Rep. Payton was unanimously elected to replace outgoing PAYD President Yarone Zober, Chief of Staff to Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl. Under Mr. Zober’s leadership, the organization underwent unprecedented growth, including a doubling in membership and chapters. Mr. Zober’s most important accomplishment was securing funding for PAYD’s first full time Executive Director and PAYD’s successful peer-to-peer young voter program, which oversaw the efforts of dozens of paid canvassers and numerous volunteer organizers in their work in Congressmen Murphy’s and Altmire’s districts in 2006.
“We are excited to have such diverse talent representing every corner of the state on our new board. Tony has assembled a great team to move PAYD forward into another winning year for Democrats in Pennsylvania,” said McKrell.
The rest of Rep. Payton’s newly elected board includes Tim Brennan, Tara Reynolds, Alex Reber, Dan Tyman and Rebecca Sammon. A brief biography for each new officer follows.
PAYD President Tony Payton Jr. was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from the 179th District in Philadelphia County in 2006. Before running for office he worked as a housing counselor at United Communities in South Philadelphia. He has been active in his community helping found the Icon Community Corporation, a non-profit organization that assists in bridging the gap in reading disparities among school-aged youth. He served as treasurer of PA PAC for Progress and for the Philadelphians Against Santorum campaign, as well as completed a fellowship with the Center for Progressive Leadership. He holds active memberships in the Philadelphia’s Young Nonprofit Leaders (PYNL), the Young America PAC, and the Social Action Committee. Rep. Payton is a contributor to the Young Philly Politics Web site, and co-chair of Students for Progressive Ethics Amendments and Reform (S.P.E.A.R).
PAYD Vice-President Chelsa Wagner was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from the 22nd District in Allegheny County in 2006. She holds a bachelor’s degree in public policy from the University of Chicago, where she was a member of the women's varsity basketball team, and is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh Law School, where she was the recipient of the Community Service Award. Prior to being elected, Rep. Wagner worked as a plaintiff's attorney specializing in medical malpractice. She has also worked as a policy analyst reforming large state governments throughout the country.
PAYD National Committeeman Tim Brennan graduated from Ursinus College and the Widener University School of Law. He volunteers for and has founded a number of charitable, legal, community and Democratic organizations, has been published in the fields of equine law and redistricting law and has lectured at the Dickinson School of Law. A member of the Pennsylvania and New Jersey Bar, Mr. Brennan was appointed Assistant Solicitor for the City of Bethlehem in 2005 by Mayor John B. Callahan.
PAYD National Committeewoman Tara Reynolds is from Allegheny County. She is currently a board member of the National Stonewall Democrats and Community Human Services Corporation located in the South Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh. She is a member of the PA Democratic State Committee and has consulted on numerous campaigns in Western Pennsylvania. Ms. Reynolds works for the Women's Law Project and is finishing a degree at Carlow University.
PAYD Treasurer Alex Reber recently graduated from Lebanon Valley College in December 2006 with a dual major in Business Administration and Accounting and a minor in Political Science. A co-founder of his College Democrats chapter, he has been involved with the PA Young Democrats for the past three years. Last summer Mr. Reber was a finance intern on Senator Bob Casey’s campaign and is presently working as a Senior Accountant at Miller Dixon Drake in Harrisburg.
PAYD Corresponding Secretary Daniel Tyman of Chester County is a graduate of West Chester University. He has been involved in Chester County politics for the past few years, including as Secretary of the Chester County Democratic Committee. Mr. Tyman currently serves as President of the Chester County Young Democrats, an organization he led through their efforts to elect Congressman Joe Sestak, State Senator Andrew Dinniman and State Rep. Barbara McIlvaine-Smith.
PAYD Recording Secretary Rebecca Sammon of Luzerne County started her career as a field operative for Kerry/Edwards 2004 in Northeastern Pennsylvania. She served as Campaign Manager for newly elected State Representative Mike Carroll in 2006. A graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where she earned her JD, and of Temple University, where she earned her BA in Classics and Political Science, Ms. Sammon works for the Democratic Caucus in Harrisburg as a research analyst.
Thursday, May 3, 2007
But, do they do windows?
On Saturday, April 21st the Dauphin County Young Democrats got down and dirty on the streets of downtown
April 22nd was the Governor’s annual Great PA Cleanup. The Dauphin County Young Democrats wanted to exercise our political belief of a healthy environment and become more active within the greater community.
Many people probably would not expect picking up trash would be fun; however, our members had a blast. We joked, goofed around, and enjoyed the beautiful weather while picking up leavings, trash, and other unmentionables from the streets.
When we finally finished, each of us had a sense of accomplishment. You could see the difference where we had cleaned. Many spectators of the day commented on how active the Dauphin County Young Democrats were. It was an great event with great people working for an great, clean cause.
-John CampbellDauphin County Young Democrats
Sunday, April 15, 2007
There's gonna be a new mayor in town
Five candidates; Chaka Fattah, Bob Brady, Dwight Evans, Tom Knox, and Michael Nutter, are running hard for the nomination of the Democratic Party in the race to become the next Mayor of Philadelphia. In a wide open campaign every candidate is trying to capture the attention and votes of young voters. Check out their websites for more information:
http://www.phillyforfattah.com/
http://www.bobbradyworks.com/
http://www.evansformayor.com/
http://www.knoxforphilly.com/
http://www.nutter2007.com/
The Philadelphia Young Democrats have been getting involved by promoting voter registration before the May 15th Primary, and educating citizens on the other elections taking place this year.
In addition to Philadelphia's Mayoral race, City Council, and Judgeships are also in play this year. We recently organized a successful meet and greet, Judges & Junkfood, that allowed young democrats to meet judicial candidates. It was a lot of fun, and informational for all involved.
Check out our site for more information http://www.phillyyoungdemocrats.com/ and make sure to register to vote!
-The Philadelphia Young Democrats
http://www.phillyforfattah.com/
http://www.bobbradyworks.com/
http://www.evansformayor.com/
http://www.knoxforphilly.com/
http://www.nutter2007.com/
The Philadelphia Young Democrats have been getting involved by promoting voter registration before the May 15th Primary, and educating citizens on the other elections taking place this year.
In addition to Philadelphia's Mayoral race, City Council, and Judgeships are also in play this year. We recently organized a successful meet and greet, Judges & Junkfood, that allowed young democrats to meet judicial candidates. It was a lot of fun, and informational for all involved.
Check out our site for more information http://www.phillyyoungdemocrats.com/ and make sure to register to vote!
-The Philadelphia Young Democrats
Chester County Revolution
Since most of you reading this are probably from one of the other 66 counties in our great Commonwealth, let me give you a little background on one of the three original counties. We're the wealthiest county in Pennsylvania. We have a large rural area, we have many wealthy suburbs. The Democratic Party has been in the minority here for as long as there has been a party. The only Democratic Presidential candidate we've voted for in the past 90 years was LBJ. We hadn't had a Democrat represent our county since 1893.
Last year, we've elected Andrew Dinniman to the State Senate, helped send Joe Sestak to the US Congress, went 65% for Ed Rendell and 55% for Bob Casey. And of course we elected Barbara McIlvaine Smith to the State House, giving our party Democratic control for the first time since the early 90s. What happened here?
Obviously, there are certain factors out of our control. Demographic shifts have been significant. More Democrats are moving into the county, and that has helped. And we've also been well served by the way Republicans have ruined their own party. As the hard-core conservatives have taken over, a lot of moderate Republicans have been driven out of the party here. Barb herself was a Republican until about six years ago, when she became fed up with them and switched her registration. We definitely need to hope that the GOP doesn't learn their lesson: radical values are not popular here, and probably aren't anywhere else in this state.
But that alone wouldn't be enough to put us over the edge. The lesson worth learning here is that we need to work everywhere, and we need Young Democrats to win.
Only 10 years ago it would've been inconceivable to think that we'd start trending blue. I was only 10 when Bill Clinton ran in 1992, but neither then nor in his re-elect did I ever see a Clinton sign. This area was as Republican as you could imagine. But through lots of hard work we narrowed the gap. Now, we're able to go from a firewall for them, to a hotly contested area, and if we can keep working, make it solidly blue. There's no reason we can't replicate this in Adams and York and Dauphin and Lancaster Counties, and really anywhere. It was the people who ran for these offices here in Chester County back when it was a pipe-dream that we'd win who made it possible for us to win now.
We've begun something here we call our 73 Municipality Strategy. In Chester County, we have 73 different townships, boroughs and even a city. Our Democratic base had been the city of Coatesville, the borough of Phoenixville and my home town of West Chester (which has only become a Democratic town in the last decade). But when State Senator Dinniman ran, he won (sometimes handily) in very Republican and very rural townships. Our party has become extremely organized and active in some very wealthy Republican areas (like Tredyffrin and Willistown) and even in the mostly rural southern part of our county. We don't take any vote for granted and work to build the party everywhere.
It's vital that we do the same in Pennsylvania. Of course Philadelphia and Pittsburgh will always play important roles, they're world class cities and Democratic strongholds. But we need to focus on all 67 counties. Philadelphia went for John Kerry by 412,000 votes, and that was vital to us winning the state. But Monroe County only missed going for Kerry by four votes. Would it have effected the outcome? No. But it'd be an important step in turning Monroe blue. Some might ask, why would we want to focus on Bedford County? John Kerry only received 26% of the vote. Well, in 1972 George McGovern barely matched that here, and in 2008 we're going to go Democratic. We need to start somewhere, and who better than the Young Democrats to start it?
Maybe the most important thing to take out of this though is the power that young people can wield. We here in the Chester County Young Democrats made this race our #1 priority. Now, we had a lot of races to pick from: Joe Sestak (our #2 priority), Lois Murphy, Ed Rendell, Bob Casey and other state house races. But we chose Barb because she has consistently reached out to us and made young people feel both welcome and important in her campaign. This is exactly what all candidates need to do: realize that we're more than just foot soldiers, but can be valuable parts of campaigns and make a difference. Because we did it here.
Dan TymanPresident, Chester County Young Democrats
Last year, we've elected Andrew Dinniman to the State Senate, helped send Joe Sestak to the US Congress, went 65% for Ed Rendell and 55% for Bob Casey. And of course we elected Barbara McIlvaine Smith to the State House, giving our party Democratic control for the first time since the early 90s. What happened here?
Obviously, there are certain factors out of our control. Demographic shifts have been significant. More Democrats are moving into the county, and that has helped. And we've also been well served by the way Republicans have ruined their own party. As the hard-core conservatives have taken over, a lot of moderate Republicans have been driven out of the party here. Barb herself was a Republican until about six years ago, when she became fed up with them and switched her registration. We definitely need to hope that the GOP doesn't learn their lesson: radical values are not popular here, and probably aren't anywhere else in this state.
But that alone wouldn't be enough to put us over the edge. The lesson worth learning here is that we need to work everywhere, and we need Young Democrats to win.
Only 10 years ago it would've been inconceivable to think that we'd start trending blue. I was only 10 when Bill Clinton ran in 1992, but neither then nor in his re-elect did I ever see a Clinton sign. This area was as Republican as you could imagine. But through lots of hard work we narrowed the gap. Now, we're able to go from a firewall for them, to a hotly contested area, and if we can keep working, make it solidly blue. There's no reason we can't replicate this in Adams and York and Dauphin and Lancaster Counties, and really anywhere. It was the people who ran for these offices here in Chester County back when it was a pipe-dream that we'd win who made it possible for us to win now.
We've begun something here we call our 73 Municipality Strategy. In Chester County, we have 73 different townships, boroughs and even a city. Our Democratic base had been the city of Coatesville, the borough of Phoenixville and my home town of West Chester (which has only become a Democratic town in the last decade). But when State Senator Dinniman ran, he won (sometimes handily) in very Republican and very rural townships. Our party has become extremely organized and active in some very wealthy Republican areas (like Tredyffrin and Willistown) and even in the mostly rural southern part of our county. We don't take any vote for granted and work to build the party everywhere.
It's vital that we do the same in Pennsylvania. Of course Philadelphia and Pittsburgh will always play important roles, they're world class cities and Democratic strongholds. But we need to focus on all 67 counties. Philadelphia went for John Kerry by 412,000 votes, and that was vital to us winning the state. But Monroe County only missed going for Kerry by four votes. Would it have effected the outcome? No. But it'd be an important step in turning Monroe blue. Some might ask, why would we want to focus on Bedford County? John Kerry only received 26% of the vote. Well, in 1972 George McGovern barely matched that here, and in 2008 we're going to go Democratic. We need to start somewhere, and who better than the Young Democrats to start it?
Maybe the most important thing to take out of this though is the power that young people can wield. We here in the Chester County Young Democrats made this race our #1 priority. Now, we had a lot of races to pick from: Joe Sestak (our #2 priority), Lois Murphy, Ed Rendell, Bob Casey and other state house races. But we chose Barb because she has consistently reached out to us and made young people feel both welcome and important in her campaign. This is exactly what all candidates need to do: realize that we're more than just foot soldiers, but can be valuable parts of campaigns and make a difference. Because we did it here.
Dan TymanPresident, Chester County Young Democrats
Guest Blogging!
During my brief absence from the commonwealth, I've asked Alex Reber to coordinate our blogging activity.
In the coming days, we hope to keep your interest posting entries from around the state for young Democrats and by young Democrats.
-Paul McKrell
PAYD ED
In the coming days, we hope to keep your interest posting entries from around the state for young Democrats and by young Democrats.
-Paul McKrell
PAYD ED
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Transitioning...
This December I graduated from Lebanon Valley College. The one thing I knew I would miss was all the fun with my friends in the College Dems. I had just started a job in Harrisburg, PA and was hoping to make some new friends (yes, even accountants need friends!). I went to my first meeting of the Dauphin County Young Democrats and was already among friends. In the sometimes small world of active Democrats in Central PA, I realized I already knew a few of the people there.
Soon I was on their Happy Hour email list and was invited to participate in parties, outings, lunches, community service and of course, political activities. Not only did the Young Dems fill a need to be politically active, it also helped my transition from college to the real world.
I think anyone who enjoyed their time in the College Dems, should defiantely look up their closest chapter of the Young Dems as soon as they get settled in the real world. Not only does it help you stay connected to the Democratic Party, but its a lot of fun too!
-Alex Reber
PAYD Regional Coordinator
Soon I was on their Happy Hour email list and was invited to participate in parties, outings, lunches, community service and of course, political activities. Not only did the Young Dems fill a need to be politically active, it also helped my transition from college to the real world.
I think anyone who enjoyed their time in the College Dems, should defiantely look up their closest chapter of the Young Dems as soon as they get settled in the real world. Not only does it help you stay connected to the Democratic Party, but its a lot of fun too!
-Alex Reber
PAYD Regional Coordinator
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