Leon Dems Launch African-American Outreach Program
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
TALLAHASSEE, FL – Today
the Leon
County Democratic Party announced a major
African-American Voter Outreach
Program that will include paid media,
mailings, phone banking and canvassing of
Leon County’s African-American communities
throughout the 2008 election
cycle. In
addition, many local elected
officials – such as Tallahassee Mayor John
Marks, State Representative Curtis
Richardson, and Tallahassee City Commissioner
Andrew Gillum – will be serving
as Honorary Program Co-Chairs, lending their
expertise to the program and
helping the local party strengthen its ties to
the African-American community.
About 90 percent of Florida’s African-Americans have voted Democratic in recent years. “The Leon Democratic Party is grateful for the support of the African-American community, but we won’t take it for granted,” said Rick Minor, Chair of the Leon County Democratic Party. “For the 2008 elections, we will be working especially hard to earn their support once again.”
A major component of this program will
be the active support of and
assistance from a large group of local elected
officials.
These elected Democrats, each with a
sizeable number of African-Americans in their
jurisdiction, will help the Leon
County Democratic Party further strengthen its
ties with the African-American
community and its leaders. To date, the
following elected officials will be serving as
Honorary
Co-Chairs:
- Tallahassee
Mayor John
Marks
- State
Representative Curtis
Richardson
- State
Representative Loranne
Ausley
- Leon
County Commissioner Cliff Thaell
- Leon
County Commissioner Bob
Rackleff
- City
Commissioner Andrew
Gillum
- School
Board Member Maggie
Lewis
- School
Board Member Sheila
Costigan
- Leon
County Tax Collector Doris
Maloy
Additional Honorary Co-Chairs will be
added over the coming
weeks.
The
program, to be led
by Leon County Democratic Executive Committee
member Zachary Ansley, will be a
coordinated effort of the Leon County
Democratic Party and the Democratic Black
Caucus of Leon County. The program
will focus on the following areas:
o
Paid
advertising on local African-American
radio
o
Mailings to
Democratic and No Party Affiliation
African-Americans
o
Further
strengthening ties with African-American
community leaders in
Leon County
o
Working with
African-American students at FAMU, FSU, and TCC
to build a
strong Democratic
network
o
Membership drive
to increase African-Americans in Leon
Democratic
Executive Committee
o
Phone banking and
Canvassing African-American neighborhoods to
increase
voter registration and increase awareness of
the Jan. 29th
primary
o
Monthly
meetings among committee members and Leon
County African-American community
leaders
“I expect that we’ll spend around $15,000 on African-American outreach during the 2008 election cycle. This is a significant investment from a local county party, and it’s just one indication of our commitment to African-American voters in Leon County,” said Minor.