VAN ZANDT COUNTY DEMOCRATS TAKE PART IN STATE CONVENTION

HOUSTON--A delegation of four Democrats from Van Zandt County took part in the 2004 Democratic Party of Texas State Convention, "Fighting for Democracy," Friday and Saturday in Houston.

County Chairman Vince Leibowitz (D-Canton) headed up the delegation as Delegation Chair. Delegates were Edward Looney and Tax Assessor/Collector Vicki L. Looney, both of Myrtle Springs; and Robert Jones of Rolling Oaks.

"The convention was a great way for us to get geared up for the November elections," said County Chairman Vince Leibowitz. "Even for conservative Democrats like most of us in Van Zandt County, it provided an excellent opportunity for us to network among our peers and discuss the major issues of the day with leaders from around the Lone Star State," he said.

Upon arriving at the convention, Leibowitz, along with Vicki Looney, participated in the first annual East Texas Caucus, led by Polk County Democratic Party County Chairman Sharon Teal. Bob Scarborough, candidate for Texas Railroad Commission, gave a very well-received speech during the caucus. Edward Looney and Jones attended the Small Business Caucus.

Also on Friday, Leibowitz took part in the inaugural Texas Blogger's Caucus, which was a gathering of Democrats who author Weblogs dedicated to Texas and Texas politics. Six of Texas' most widely read and most influential web authors attended the caucus including Leibowitz (who writes for the nationally known Political State Report, the Democratic Party of Texas' Yellow Dog Blog, WatchBlog and the Free State Standard); Byron LaMasters of the Burnt Orange Report; Sarah Looney (no relation to Edward and Vicki Looney) of Roman Candles; Greg Wythe of Greg's Opinion; Charles Kuffner of Off The Kuff, and Aziz Poonawalla of UnMedia. The caucus featured congressional candidate Richard Morrison as guest speaker. Morrison is running to unseat U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Sugar Land.

Friday afternoon, the entire delegation took part in the Senate District 2 Caucus, where Dr. Martha Williams of Terrell was re-elected to the State Democratic Executive Committee, and Steven Tillery of Dallas was elected to the vacancy on the SDEC 2. Congressional candidates Bill Bernstein (CD 5), Jim Nickerson (CD 4) , State Representative Mark Homer, State Representative Terri Hodge, and former U.S. Congressman and Honorary Convention Chairman Ken Bentsen all addressed the delegates.

Leibowitz was nominated and elected at the SD2 caucus to be SD2's representative on the Permanent Credentials Committee. He was nominated by Charles Whittaker of Kaufman County, a former chief of staff for State Senator David Cain. Marsha Livesay of Hunt County was elected Permanent Secretary of the caucus, and former state representative Bob Aikin was elected Permanent Chairman.

Following the caucus, the Van Zandt County Delegation attendedng ceremonies of the State Convention. Those who addressed the convention included Carol Alvarado, Mayor Pro Tem for the City of Houston, and former Undersecretary of Energy, Texas Democratic Party Chair and current Houston Mayor Bill White, as well as honorary convention chairman Ken Bentsen.

Former Presidential Candidate and North Carolina Senator Hon. John Edwards gave the keynote address Friday night. He was followed by a number of statewide and regional candidates for various offices.

Friday night, Leibowitz was one of many East Texas County Chairs who were the guests of Congressional Candidates Jim Nickerson and Max Sandlin and State Representative Mark Homer at the trio's hospitality suite. There, Leibowitz had the opportunity to meet with Nickerson and other candidates and party leaders about the future of the Democratic Party in East Texas. In addition, Leibowitz met and spoke with former State Party Chairwoman Molly Beth Malcom and other regional candidates including HD 10 candidate Jake Gillbreath. Leibowitz also joined other Democrats in hospitality activities hosted by Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, State Senator Royce West, and the Tejano Democrats of Texas.

On Saturday, Leibowitz attended the Biannual Meeting of the Texas Democratic County Chairs Association. During the meeting, Leibowitz was part of a significant number of Texas County Chairs who supported Polk County Democratic Party Chairwoman Sharon Teel in her bid to unseat Caldwell County Chairman Philip A. Ruiz as president of the TDCCA. Teel said she wants the TDCCA to focus more on outreach and training of new and current county chairs and become more of a networking and assistance organization. Teel won a close race following two tied votes and a division of the house. Seeking further new leadership for the organization, Van Zandt County Democratic Party County Chair Vince Leibowitz was nominated by his peers for the a vice presidential position. Although Leibowitz lost the close election, he was elected as SD2's representative on the TDCCA's Board of Directors.

Later on Saturday, the delegation participated in several workshops and the second general session of the convention where presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich spoke, as did Bentsen, before returning to Van Zandt County.

"The convention provided us an excellent opportunity to let people across the state know the Democratic Party of Van Zandt County is alive and well," Leibowitz said. "Many influential Democrats from across the state believe that retaking Texas by candidates with the peoples' best interest and mainstream Texas values at heart will begin in East Texas, and that Van Zandt County will be a cornerstone of that effort," he noted.

"Because of the tremendous amount of money and effort expended specifically in races relating to our county by major GOP donors, much of the state has its eye on us to determine how successful we will be at retaining our ground and turning back the tide of radicalism that seems to be sweeping the state. I assured our state party leadership that our Democrats, which includes a significant majority of conservatives, will work to support Democratic candidates that reflect fiscally conservative, people-oriented East Texas values, and that we will continue our extensive outreach activities to reach more people than our party has ever reached before," he concluded.