Thanks to all of you for your part in making the 2012 state convention a success! Whether or not you came to Houston last week, many of you helped in countless ways to help prepare the way for this historic meeting.

Speaking of history, this convention broke new ground in helping to make the current Texas Democratic Party the most progressive ever.  For example, the delegates voted to embrace marriage equality in its platform, making the TDP the first political party in the South to do so.  Other new progressive platform planks included opposition to the death penalty, support for the Dream Act, and support for decriminalization of marijuana. Traditional positions were strengthened, including a call for new initiatives to improve education and restore education funding, as well as new provisions to protect the environment and increase public safety.  All Texas Democrats can be proud of the work of the delegates, convention committee members, party leaders, and activists in our own district who contributed to this achievement.  For a quick review of the differences in the state Democratic and Republican platforms, please click on the line below.

http://www.txdemocrats.org/2012/Differences_Between_TDP_and_RPT_Platforms.pdf

Additionally, the delegates made history by electing the party’s first Hispanic state chairman, Judge Gilberto Hinojosa of Cameron County.

The Senate District 16 caucus met on Friday afternoon and elected delegates to the following committees which helped craft the course of the convention:

Al Daniels - Platform
Gordon Peterson - Resolutions
Pam Curry – Rules
Pauline Bourqui – At Large Nominations
Matt Andrade -- Party Nominations
Brian MacKay – Presidential elector

The caucus also voted to recommend David Griggs and Janice Schwarz as its committee representatives to the State Democratic Executive Committee (SDEC) for this term.

And finally, six national delegates were chosen for recommendation from our caucus:
Bob Franklin, Omar Navarez, Tariq Jafferey, Marsha Fishman, Lenna Webb, and Willacin Gholston.

The At-Large Nominations committee also voted to recommend Francine Ly and Juan Ayala from our senate district to be national delegates in Charlotte.

If you have feedback from state convention that you would like to share in helping us make the 2014 convention in Dallas the best ever, please click on the link below.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dFRBSEZIWmdMMmo5TS05UVlIbDZvalE6MQ

Thanks again to Susan Bradley and David Griggs for the many hours of work devoted to service as our delegation co-chairs, and a special thanks to Theresa Daniel and David Bradley for their many years of dedication and service on the SDEC on behalf of SD 16.

Democratically yours,

David Griggs, SD-16 Committeeman
Janice Schwarz, SD-16 Committeewoman