Youth and diversity welcomed by local DEM party
The Davidson County Democratic Party has a young face as its new chairman.
JacQuez Johnson, a Winston-Salem native and Thomasville High School alumnus, was elected chairman on Saturday during the DCDP’s County Convention. At 21 years old, Johnson holds the distinction as the youngest to chair the DCDP. He is preceded by Tina Royal, the first Black woman to hold the post. Johnson credits Royal’s tenure for fostering a wide interest in leadership.
Johnson said in his candidate platform on the DCDP website that his top three goals as chair are to lead mass voting registration events for underserved communities, form an African American Democratic Caucus chapter within Davidson County and help create the change the party aims to see in the 21st century.
In a phone interview after the meeting, Johnson said one of his main goals as leader is to boost engagement.
“First, it’s making people aware the Davidson County Democratic Party is here and making aware it’s an umbrella party,” he said, adding that even with 70 plus people in attendance the virtual convention did not accurately represent the diversity found in the county.
Crafting the moniker of an umbrella party at the local level means going places Democrats don’t usually go, Johnson said. He sees his time as chairman working with inner-city communities and groups traditionally left out of the political discourse.
But he also admitted that the DCDP needs a bit of a facelift if it wants to modernize.
Johnson said he hopes to use technology as a way to not only promote the party but meet the community where it’s at. He said the DCDP website was due for an update and tools like social media are useful in spreading information in an inclusive way. One example Johnson gave was translating important information from the county health department into Spanish, something that could easily be shared as a post.
This isn’t Johnson’s first foray into Davidson County politics. In high school, he spent several years interning with Thomasville city government and Mayor Raleigh York. Johnson is currently a student at Appalachian State University and has remained active in North Carolina campaign management over the past few years.
And even though he’s usually the youngest person in the room at DCDP events, Johnson considers his election a sign that Davidson's Democrats are hungry for younger voices in politics.
“I think it means that we’ve all seen for too long that things haven’t worked the way they were being done,” he said.
Other business that occurred during the convention included:
Tonya Lanier, Lester Smith and Marlene Martinez were all elected to vice-chair positions.
Jennifer Rivera was elected to the role of secretary.
Betty Gregory was elected to serve as treasurer.
New members were elected to the State Executive Committee.
The expansion in generational leadership was noted by all.
“I'm so honored by the Davidson County Democratic Party for the trust and confidence you placed in me by electing me to be your next Chair.” Johnson said. “We made history. I am the youngest person to serve as Chair of the Davidson County Democratic Party. Echoing heroes like John Lewis who said ‘When you see something that is not right, you must say something, you must do something. I'm committed to moving our community forward but I can't do it alone. It's going to take the wisdom of our elders and the energy of our youth to turn our vision into a reality. Thank you all again and let's get to work.”
