In October 2006 the Richmond County Democratic Party hosted the largest gathering of Democratic activists, candidates and voters since Governor Jim Hunt's 1980 rally in Rockingham.
More than 500 people attended the rip-roaring rally and fundraiser at the Hamlet Lions Club Fairgrounds four months ago.
Joining us were Larry Kissell, our Democratic nominee for Congress; Insurance Commissioner Jim Long; NCDP Chairman Jerry Meek; Chief Justice Sarah Parker; now-Justice Robin Hudson; State Representative Melanie Wade Goodwin; and various statewide, regional and local candidates. We had great food, delightful musical entertainment, and many of door prizes.
(Coincidentally, that same night the local GOP held its rally and - by all accounts - no more than 50 people attended.)
With the success of the Democratic Party rally, as county chairman I could not help but be proud!
This morning the Executive Committee of the Richmond County Democratic Party met and unanimously decided to hold its 2nd annual Morrison-Deane-Goodman Dinner and Rally this year. (For those unfamiliar with the history behind the dinner, I plan on posting such details later.)
Suffice it to say, mark your calendars for Thursday, October 25, 2007.
We particularly ask Statewide and regional candidates to put this as a must-attend event in ink on their schedules. Not only will you have the rare opportunity to meet a multitude of Democratic voters from Richmond and surrounding counties, this may be one of the few times before the May 2008 primary for you to get your message directly and in-person to a solidly Democratic corner of the Eighth Congressional District.
And so you know: Richmond County has asked Larry Kissell to be one of our two primary speakers for the evening. The remainder of the program and the location will be announced by the time of the Eighth District Convention on May 19.
Richmond County is gearing up to do its part to make North Carolina Democratic blue in 2008.
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2 comments:
So what does the name mean?
All 3 persons named in the title of the rally are Democrats of some Statewide renown who are Richmond County native sons.
The Morrison reference is to former U.S. Senator, Governor, Congressman, State Senator and Mayor Cameron Morrison. He moved from Richmond County to Charlotte in his late 20s or early 30s, I believe ... which was sometime after 1904 or so.
The Deane reference is to the late C.B. Deane of Rockingham, former Congressman for what is now the 8th District in the late 1940s through 1950s. He is best known for risking his Congressional seat by refusing to sign the Southern Manifesto. You may recall that almost all Southern Congressmen opposed the Brown v. Board of Education ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court and, to reflect their opposition, signed a manifesto exhorting that opposition. Deane, a true profile in courage, refused to support segregation. As a direct result he lost the next election.
Goodman refers to the longest-serving elected Sheriff in North Carolina history: R.W. Goodman. He first ran in 1946 but lost in a close race in the Democratic primary. From 1950 through 1994 he served consecutive terms for 44 years. His success was attributed, in part, to his early involvement of the community's African-American leaders in his campaign and in the Sheriff's office; he was instrumental in obtaining a voter registration card (notwithstanding Jim Crow-era statutes on the books) for Henry Frye, then also of Richmond County, who later was to become the first African-American elected to the NC House of Representatives and the first African-American Chief Justice of the NC Supreme Court.
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