Milwaukee activist Sachin Chheda was chosen to lead the Democratic Party of Milwaukee County during the local Party’s biennial officer elections last Monday night, Nov. 23. Chheda, a former aide to Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle who works as a consultant to nonprofit advocacy groups, defeated Tyrone Daniels to assume the position of DPMC Chair.
“It is a tremendous honor to be elected by my fellow Democrats,” said Chheda. “In the next two years, we will grow the Party, speak out about our progressive values and engage our community in new ways.”
Chheda committed in his campaign to double local Party membership and engage the media to spread the Democratic message. He was elected overwhelmingly in a Party meeting with the largest turnout in recent memory.
“Milwaukee will play its part in re-electing majorities in both houses of the legislature, re-electing Sen. Russ Feingold and Congresswoman Gwen Moore, and sending Tom Barrett to Madison as our great state’s next Governor,” said Chheda. “We also intend to focus new energy on electing Democrats at the local level throughout Milwaukee County.”
Dawn Martin and Dave Redemann were re-elected to their positions as Treasurer and Corresponding Secretary, respectively. Former Recording Secretary Marlene Ott was elected vice chair, and former Membership Secretary Nancy Penn was elected Recording Secretary. Renee Crawford was elected Membership Secretary. All were uncontested. In addition, Chheda announced that he would reappoint Issues Committee cochairs Harriet Callier and Jim Carpenter, and appoint outgoing vice-chair Heather Ullsvik as co-chair of the Events and Development Committee, with Tim Posnanski to serve as the other co-chair.
The Party also honored outgoing chair Martha Love for her seven years as the local Democratic leader (http://milwaukeedems.org/HonorMLove). They pointed to her long history with local labor and women’s causes, and her outreach to young people and Muslims. The Party voted unanimously to name their annual scholarships to the state training academy for Democratic campaign workers in Love’s honor, and Democratic Party of Wisconsin chair Mike Tate announced that Love had been appointed to a vacancy on the Democratic National Committee.
“Martha Love has been a tremendous advocate for local Democrats, and we are pleased she will continue her service to our local, state and national Party,” said Chheda.
The Democratic Party of Milwaukee County is an all-volunteer organization, and serves as the local chapter of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. Democrats value broad prosperity, mutual responsibility, effective government, a better future, and a stronger America. The DPMC meets the fourth Monday of most months at 7:00 p.m. in the Hall of Fame Room at the Pettit National Ice Center at Wisconsin State Fair Park. The next meeting is January 25, 2009.
