The Democratic Party is a grassroots-based organization.
County & Legislative District Organizations: There are 39 counties and 49 legislative districts (LD) in Washington state with responsibilities and goals similar to the GH Democrats.
- Boundaries: While county organizations fall within the borders of the county they are located in, LDs are determined via population distribution and the boundaries change every 10 years based on census data. (Learn more about this at the Washington State Redistricting Commission.) See map at right for county and current LD boundaries.
- Structure: Each organization creates its own bylaws, platform, board structure, policies and procedures. New boards are elected every two years.
- State Committee Representatives: All county and LD organizations elect two state committee representatives. These consist of one man (State Committeeman or SCM) and one woman (State Committeewoman or SCW) for gender equity. They represent their local party organization at quarterly meetings of the Washington State Democratic Central Committee.
- Rural vs. Urban: The main organizing body (county vs. LD) can differ depending on where you live within the state:
- Rural: As you can see on the map, in rural areas the counties comprise smaller geographic areas than the LDs due to sparser population density. In these cases, most activities are organized by the county organizations. LD organizations usually play a more limited role. The specifics of this can vary due to traditions and agreements between the organizations in those areas.
- Urban: Because these areas have dense populations, the LDs do most of the local organizing with the county organizations playing a more limited role. Again, the specifics can vary due to local customs and agreements.
- If you do not reside in Grays Harbor County, you can find your county organization here.
- You can be active in both your LD and county organizations. Find your LD organization here.
Washington State Democrats: The main function of the state party is to act as an umbrella for the county/LD organizations, support the county/LD organizations, and recruit and assist Democratic candidates for statewide and federal positions. - The state committee representatives elected in the county and LD organizations form the governing body of the state party.
- There are 88 state committeemen (SCM) and 88 state committeewomen (SCW) for a total of 176 representatives who vote on resolutions, budget, policies, procedures, bylaw changes, and other issues that might come before that body.
- Every two years, the state committee elects a new state board and representatives to the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
- The state party determines the rules and procedures for caucuses and conventions.
The Democratic National Committee (a/k/a The Democratic Party): The Washington State Democrats is a member in the Democratic National Committee. Our state committee representatives vote on those who represent us at the national level. We have four DNC representatives for Washington state who also serve on the executive board of our Washington State Democrats. The DNC representatives attend several meetings per year to be our voices from Washington State at both the national and Western States Caucus levels. |
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