In the first candidate’s forum in the race for Democratic National Committee chair, all four publicly declared candidates spoke to Young Democrats of America (YDA) at their annual winter meeting, with each candidate vowing to institutionalize monetary support for the party’s youth wing.
“Each of the four of them coming here shows that they are serious about reaching out to young voters,” Young Democrats of America President Quentin Wathum-Ocama told The Hill. “No matter what you think of any of the candidates, they’re all committed to building a multi-generational, working-class party, so I think that for me, that’s why it was so important for them to hear what we say.
The four candidates running are Minnesota Democratic Party Chair Ken Martin, Wisconsin Party Chair Ben Wikler, former Maryland Gov. and Social Security Administrator Martin O’Malley (D), and New York State Senator James Skoufis (D).
This is the first time Young Democrats of America have hosted a candidate forum with DNC candidates. Wathum-Ocama added that he was “glad that none of the candidates are interested in doing things like we have in the past.”
During the forum, the four candidates agreed to make Young Democrats a “funding line item” for the national party. Young Democrats of America operates as an independent 527 political organization that has to raise money independently of the party.
“We gave millions to consultants which was basically throwing the money away when we could have been giving it to organizations like this one,” said Skoufis. “It is shameful how the Democratic National Committee has either taken for granted the young, college and high school Dems and have completely overlooked the contribution that all of you makes the party.”
During this presidential election, far fewer younger Americans supported Democrats compared to previous elections, with President-elect Trump winning among younger men and Trump reducing the traditional double-digit advantage Democrats hold among younger voters to only a few points.
According to young Democrats at the meeting, such an investment would be “life changing” for the organization.
“The funding promise could radically change how we operate,” said Katherine Jeanes, the incoming voting delegate on the DNC for young democrats. “A lot of promises were made. I am interested in seeing what the commitment and the follow through looks like.”
“Five thousand or one thousand to us is going to go a lot farther than really going to some PAC or political consulating because my members stretch that money, and they know how to make the connections with young people, how to be frugal, to be able to ask you to support your chapters in that way consistently and allow them to grind,” said Wathum-Ocama.
Jeanes, who has not decided which of the four candidates they will vote for in February, said they are also looking to learn more from the candidates about the work they have done to work with young Democrats in their state.
“I think the most impactful thing that you could do for me is make a meaningful investment with the Young Democrats of their state right now,” Jeanes said. “They are coming to me because I have a DNC vote. They’re coming here because there are people with DNC votes, but the people who run their their young democrats chapters don’t have votes on the DNC.”
The candidates also vowed to make travel for members of Young Democrats to national conventions easier while also increasing funding for state and local parties, with the candidates pointing to North Carolina Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton, who is the youngest party chair in the country at 26 and was in attendance at the forum, as an example of why the national party needed to support state and local party leaders better.
“No state party chair should have to choose between paying the bills and working for the party they love, so we’re going to set up funds for guest travel, especially for younger Democrats, to recognize they have have full times jobs…for example we have a 26-year old chair in North Carolina who has dedicated her life to the party but wasn’t getting paid,” said Skoufis.
Clayton echoed Skoufis’s comments after the forum, adding that it was important to increase funding to get younger people involved in the party.
“We only pay 10 out of the 57 state party chairs and territory chairs in the country. And I think that is a huge problem and a big divestment that the state of the National Party has made in terms of looking at people that are working class and young people,” Clayton told The Hill. Clayton, who had a vote in the DNC election, said she was most drawn to Martin and Wikler since they have experience organizing state parties.
