Brief Description:
I am a fifth-generation Texas Democrat, populist in orientation, progressive in fact.

If elected to office...:
I will implement a party-building program consistent with the Obama campaign nationally but rooted the Texas state's constitution and traditions of republican democracy.

My fellow Democrats:
To quote GLEN MAXEY, Obama Floor Manager in the State Convention, “[Democratic] Party governance is broken.”

Every decision the State Democratic Executive Committee (“SDEC”) has made during this primary cycle has been wrong, and, as many of you saw at the district conventions, these decisions created massive, statewide chaos. Moreover, it appears that the dysfunction in the SDEC cost Barack Obama as many as 36 state delegates from this caucus.

The SDEC’s cycle of incompetence and indifference will create major problems for Barack Obama, Rick Noriega, and the county-wide Democratic candidates in Harris and Fort Bend Counties, unless we bring it to a stop at the state convention. For this reason, I am running for State Committeemen SD 13.

As some of you know, I am a 40-year resident of this Senate District, best known to delegates as Chairman of the SD Committee on Resolutions and Platform. In 2006, this caucus elected me to represent it on the Permanent Committee on Rules at the State Convention in Fort Worth. In this role, I worked with others across the state to make precedent-setting breakthroughs on what was otherwise an ordinarily moribund committee.

I also serve as Executive Vice-Chairman of the Progressive Populist Caucus of the Texas Democratic Party. In that capacity, I am better-known across the state than my opponent and have participated with party leaders here, countywide, and statewide in building a strong, self-governing, self-sustaining party.

Less well-known, I have also been the Harris County Democratic Party’s senior election integrity official at the Central Counting Station Authority, as well as the state Democratic Party Master in two large-scale recounts. Some of you may know that the state party’s record on election integrity issues are shaky at best and are of tremendous importance in this election.

I am not a delegate to the state convention, but I will be there as a state caucus official and exhibitor.
I hope to be nominated by my fine Precinct delegation of Obama and Clinton supporters.

My campaign is simple:
While Obama has a majority of the delegates in this caucus and on the convention floor, the SDEC state-wide seats will largely be held by Clinton supporters. Therefore, we will need a strong voice to make them an integral and effective part of a party-building agenda. It is more urgent than ever:

CHANGE STARTS NOW!

Texas is a “battleground state” today with a Democratic majority waiting to rise up in support of Barack Obama and Rick Noriega, entirely capable of winning “down ballot” races:

SWEEP TEXAS!
Barack Obama has a five-point party-building plan that should get a jump-start between now and November.

In the past, the SDEC has done little or nothing between the convention and the November election. This Democratic Party inaction will not work in today’s political climate. We cannot let the state party apparatus continue with the incompetent and negligent programs we have all seen trickling down from Austin in past elections

SD 13 only has two seats on the SDEC and needs a strong, aggressive voice on the Committee, who is well-schooled on the rules and procedures. More importantly, our representatives need to understand how to implement technology for voter mobilization, and implement the best-practices for combating wide-spread voter suppression in Harris and Fort Bend County.

Our partisan friends who are Clinton supporters acknowledge that Barack Obama has set new standards for campaign finance, organization, and effectiveness. This is a new Democratic Party, our Party, and the SD 13 members on the SDEC need to reflect this new way of running a campaign.

I believe that with my experience and service, I can best support these ideals and programs, and with your support, we can take back our Party and turn Texas blue again!

Contact Information
John Behrman
jrbehrman@...

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