ALASKA DEMOCRATS 2017 End of Year Report
Building the Bench Message from the Party Chair
What a year it was for the Alaska Democratic Party! 2017 brought many emotions, challenges, and successes as we experienced a Trump White House following his inauguration in January this year. Democrats across the country witnessed unbelievable policy changes far from our ideal views. We saw the in-house fighting, bickering, and staff changes within the Administration, and were incensed by its injustices.
With so much going on at the national level, it was pertinent to mobilize our Party in Alaska to continue fighting for our ideals and making sure we elect the best candidates to office. 2017 highlighted a year where we focused more of our efforts and resources in organizing and electing local progressives; it was a year in which we worked diligently to identify and empower candidates across Alaska at the city, municipal, borough, and state levels so that they could run successful campaigns. As we all know, local politics matter.
This past year really was about “building the bench.” As we to continue to work towards supporting the best candidates for Alaska, it is my hope to see more of our members elected at all levels in public service. We saw how important it is to get involved, be active, and organize. And democrats do this best! No matter how challenging it may be in our vast state, we put in the hard work to elect progressives that best represent us in our communities.
Thank you to all of our members and staff for their dedication they bring to the Alaska Democratic Party. Through our hard work, we can continue the progress we have made and look forward to even more successes in the future. Let’s turn Alaska blue - together!
Sincerely,
Casey Steinau, Chair Electing Progressives Investing in local candidates across Alaska
“While local races in Alaska are non-partisan, Alaska Democrats are smartly using these critical offices as opportunities to support progressive candidates in an ongoing effort to build our bench. It takes progressive elected officials serving on city councils, assemblies, and school boards to work in partnership with our elected Democrats in Juneau to create the Alaska we all want and deserve. Investing in local races is crucial to our long term success as a Party.”
-Jay Parmley, Executive Director IN SUMMARY Alaska Democrats supported 34 candidates running for office across the state in 2017 including in:
• Anchorage • Kenai Peninsula • Matanuska-Susitna Borough Borough • City and Borough of Juneau • Ketchikan Gateway • Palmer Borough • Fairbanks North Star • Seward Borough • Kodiak Island Borough Out of the total campaigns the Alaska Democratic Party supported, 22 candidates won races in 2017.
13,241 492,000 Total pieces of mail Total number of sent to voters in 2017 Digital Ads in 2017 Notable Campaigns Breaking barriers and promoting diversity
ASSEMBLY SEATS IN THE SPOTLIGHT In April and October 2017, progressive candidates Suzanne LaFrance, Rob Edwardson, Dan Mayfield and Hal Smalley won important Assembly seats.
• Edwardson defeated an incumbent in the Mendenhall Valley of Juneau.
• Mayfield won re-election against a strong conservative challenger in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough.
• Smalley gained a crucial progressive seat in the Kenai Peninsula Borough. MUNICIPALITY OF ANCHORAGE ELECTIONS The April elections elected a diverse pool of candidates into Assembly seats including a woman, Hispanic man and openly-gay members. And LaFrance’s April 2017 race in South Anchorage received a lot of attention... Notable Campaigns Breaking barriers and promoting diversity
“Finally, an easy race to predict. Albert Fogle is the conservative in the race, he’s naturally likable, and this is a conservative-leaning district. Case closed. Dems are talking a lot about LaFrance’s chances, but it’s just that, all talk.”
- Casey Reynolds, Midnight Sun
And… false. All talk, really?
LaFrance narrowly won the South Anchorage seat that had been traditionally held by conservative representatives. She joined two additional progressive newcomers and first openly-gay officials, Felix Rivera and Christopher Constant. LaFrance’s win ensures a super majority for progressives in the Anchorage Assem- bly. Her win proved everyone who thought otherwise wrong!
JUNEAU, MAT-SU, KENAI FOR THE WIN! Edwardson’s victory in Juneau ensures that hard work pays off, allowing progressives to continue working towards regaining control of the Juneau Assembly. Mayfield’s re-election was the closest race seen in 2017 and only proves that progressives can win in the Mat-Su valley with effort and direct voter contact. And with Smalley’s win in Kenai, the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly now has progressive representation. Candidate and Party Development Preparing for success at all levels
CREATE. Preparation is a crucial key to electoral success. The Alaska Democratic Party placed an increased emphasis on providing tools to our candidates and activists at the local level and travelled to seven cities to conduct trainings and support for Party members.
“We created a web based archive for house district and other local party officers to access workshops on Fundraising, Communications and Technology. With Alaska’s large geographic challenges, we are now able to provide key information and development on how to build a more effective grassroots infrastructure without requiring members to travel long distances.”
Cities where AK Dems staff visited to conduct workshops in 2017
Kenai Ketchikan Kodiak
Fairbanks Juneau Palmer Sitka Candidate and Party Development Preparing for success at all levels
LEARN! In addition, the Alaska Democratic Party took the show on the road. Alaska Democrats offered a one-day Campaign and Organizing workshop to local candidates, party leaders, and activists in preparation of the October 2017 local elections. Sessions included:
• Field and Organizing Tactics • Communications and Messaging • How to use VoteBuilder Our Party Building capacity to win
STAFF Alaska Democrats added a year-round field and outreach component to the team, bringing three new permanent positions onboard to support efforts. With the addition of organizers based both in Anchorage and Fairbanks, the Alaska Democratic Party staff is now comprised of an eight-person team.
FUNDRAISING Alaska Democrats revamped fundraising efforts this year with new initiatives.
• Party Gala Event: We planned our first ever annual gala dinner which was one of the most successful fundraisers in party history. $451,581
2017 Fundraising Total • Wolf Pack Program: We launched a sustaining donor program to build our roster of monthly contributors.
• Surrogate Guest Program: We hosted Governor Martin O’Malley in Alaska to help us with fundraising specifically for party building. Party Updates Moving forward together
CAUCUSES The Alaska Democratic Party added two new caucuses (in bold) in 2017 to the list of existing caucuses.
• Alaska Climate • Faith Caucus Caucus • Labor Caucus • Alaska Young • LGBTQ+ Caucus Democrats • Progressive • Black Caucus Caucus • Alaska Progressive • Veterans & Military Action Network Families Caucus NEW POLICIES The Alaska Democratic Party Executive Committee approved a Code of Conduct in November that sets a guideline for party members.
Also in November, the Party approved requiring an online sexual harassment training course for all candidates participating in the Party’s coordinated campaign. PRIMARY ELECTION LAWSUIT In 2017, the Party won suit in Superior Court to allow individuals who are registered unaffiliated or nonpartisan to run in the democratic primary for partisan elections. The case is on appeal to the Alaska Supreme Court. In the Community Living our values via our platform
PrideFest
Alaska Young Democrats
Governor O’Malley Women’s March
Annual Holiday Auction Meet & Greet in Hope
DNC Members Hmong-American Veterans Memorial Day Las Vegas Meeting Party Officers and Staff
Casey Steinau Jay Parmley Chair Executive Director Brent Watkins Matt Greene First Vice-Chair Data Director Laura Herman Nathaniel Markowitz Second Vice-Chair Finance Director Katherine Pfeiffer Alice Kim Secretary Communications Director Carolyn Covington Leighan Gonzales Treasurer Operations Coordinator Ed Wesley Jeffrey Eide National Committeeman Field & Outreach Sheila Selkregg Judy Jessen National Committeewoman Field & Outreach Jacob Sears Field & Outreach
Copyright © 2018 Alaska Democratic Party All rights reserved. Paid for by the Alaska Democratic Party, www.akdems.org. This communication is not authorized by Casey Steinau, Chair, Alaska Democratic Party and is not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee. 2602 Fairbanks Street 907.258.3050 Anchorage, AK 99503 [email protected]