VOTES ARE IN – DPDC ELECTS A NEW CHAIR
By Chris Hotchkins
The Democratic Party of DuPage County has a new Chair! Cynthia Borbas, former Chair of Wayne Township Democrats, was elected Chair in a Special Meeting of the Central Committee of the Democratic Party of DuPage County on Wednesday, February 27. It is exciting that 362 Democratic precinct committeepersons attended the Special Meeting and voted. In the election of officers, state election code and the bylaws of the DPDC call for a weighted vote, which means each Precinct Committeeperson votes the number of Democratic ballots voted in the most recent primary election in his or her precinct. In this election there was a total of 37, 802 Democratic votes represented by the precinct committeepersons in attendance. Cynthia received 22,628 weighted votes. PC’s in DuPage County were pleased that we had two qualified and competent women candidates for Chair—Cynthia Borbas and Diane Hewitt, both of whom have contributed much to the recent success of Democrats in DuPage County.
Prior to the election the PC’s present voted to repeal a section of the DPDC bylaws that said a candidate for elected officer of the DPDC must have served two terms as a precinct committeeperson. With this repeal, any Precinct Committeeperson in DuPage County may run for officer of the Democratic Party of DuPage County.
There was a question presented regarding whether appointed PC’s could vote in this Special Election. Normally the Chair of the DPDC and the Treasurer are elected at the County Convention, held every two years about a month following the Primary Election at which precinct committeepersons are elected. During the period between the Primary and the County Convention, the parties are not permitted by law to appoint precinct committeepersons. This means that only elected PC’s may vote at the County Convention. This recent election was a Special Election required by the resignation of the former Chair, Bob Peickert, and of Treasurer Bob Jeffers. Therefore, appointed PC’s were eligible to vote in this election.
At this special meeting we also elected a new Treasurer, Steve Schenk, who will take over for our own Bob Jeffers who served as Treasurer of DPDC for many years. We must say a very big THANK YOU to Bob Jeffers for his many years of excellent and highly competent service as Treasurer.
Cynthia will be collaborating with the Executive Committee of DPDC, Democratic township organizations, and PC’s throughout the county to develop a specific strategic plan for moving our county party forward to great victories in 2020. Cynthia also plans to hold frequent opportunities for precinct committeepersons to sit and chat with her over coffee in the DPDC office.