CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Cincinnati lawyer Tim Burke, chair of the Hamilton County Democratic Party for the past 14 years, was elected president of the association comprised of all 88 county leaders across Ohio. The Ohio Democratic County Chairs Association describes itself as a statewide organization committed to training grassroots activists and creating field plans for moving Democrats into elected offices.
It has produced a TV program for local cable access in Athens about Democratic officeholders there. But it has not been a high-profile organization. Under Gov. Ted Strickland's adminsitration, the chairs will become more influential, particularly in patronage issues.
The announcement of Burke's election is HERE, and it was originally noted on Buckeye State Blog, where the news has been greeted with some disappointment. Burke has critics in Cincinnati, but the Xavier University classmate of former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell has managed to hang on and his party has scored significant victories under his leadership. He and Republican Blackwell long ago parted ways.
The county chairs association is a rather obscure operation, but there is some information about its goals and activities HERE. The most recent newsletter (from last April) published by Burke's county party is HERE, although it is pretty stale.
I got a page cannot be displayed error when I tried to visit the link for the County Dems organization. I still appreciate the post though, I wasn't even aware of the organization until I read about this on the blogosphere.
ReplyDeleteThanks Lisa Renee --
ReplyDeleteI just tried it and it opened right up. Hmmmm, a mystery. Look at www.countydems.us. That is where I found it. Or Google Ohio Democratic Chairs or some such -- that should get you there, too. I used to work this outfit calling folks when I was with The Plain Dealer because the chairs often knew what was happening on the ground. In 2004, a lot of them were griping about the Kerry campaign on the q.t., and some were outraged in 2000 when Gore bailed out in Ohio. Always, many county chairs felt the state was competitive, and they were correct.