One of our major victories last June at the Virginia Democratic State Convention was the election of Sanders delegate Yasmine Taeb to the DNC. She was the only Sanders delegate running, yet she understood the concerns of both campaigns and built a coalition that allowed her to win with the most votes of all candidates in Virginia.
We're excited to announce that Yasmine is now running for the DNC Vice Chair for Civic Engagement and Voter Participation. This is a significant leadership position in the Democratic National Committee, and the election will occur February 23-25 in Atlanta.
Yasmine is a human rights attorney in Arlington and one of Virginia's five elected DNC members. She is the first Muslim-American woman and formerly undocumented immigrant elected to the DNC. Although we knew the odds of a Trump win were slim, our Sanders delegation in June saw Yasmine's candidacy as a direct repudiation of Trump's misogyny and xenophobia.
Yasmine felt compelled to play a major role in the Democratic Party after seeing the immediate damage of the Trump Administration.
“It’s been a horrific and exhausting week for my community. As an Iranian-American, I have family now banned from visiting me in the U.S. As a Muslim and a formerly undocumented immigrant, the anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, and anti-refugee executive orders signed by Trump this week strike at the core of my identity and the identities of millions."
Yasmine's platform is based on a fifty-state approach grounded in constant coordination with grassroots activists. In addition to tackling the fundamentally undemocratic phenomenon of gerrymandering, she believes the Democratic Party needs to expand its electorate by pursuing a populist message that encourages citizen action. “Putting out statements and passing resolutions simply won’t do,” she insists. “We need to be on the streets, in these communities, communities that will be stigmatized and attacked on a daily basis by Trump.”
Although Activate Virginia isn't directly involved in national campaigns, we did want to alert Virginians to Yasmine's campaign. Check out her FB (Yasmine Taeb for DNC), Twitter (@YasmineTaeb), and website (www.yasminetaeb.com) when you get the chance. She's been on the front lines of several protests over the past few days, and we wish her luck in this dynamic race.
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Note on DNC elections:
February 23-25, Atlanta. Our understanding is that after the election of the new Chair, there'll be elections for Treasurer, Secretary, and National Finance Chair. There'll then be an election for Vice Chair for Civic Engagement and Voter Participation (Yasmine has 3 competitors). Finally, the three general Vice Chairs will be elected. For more details on the candidates and dynamics, feel free to contact us.
We also have a DNC rules aficionado as one of our Virginia DNC members: Frank Leone. He runs www.demrulz.org, a fantastic resource if you're interested in the machinations of the National Party and the DPVA.