GEORGIANA VINES

Knox Democrats elect officers, talk health care

Georgianna Vines
Special to the USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee

The Knox County Democratic Party elected mostly newcomers — all women — as party officers at a reorganizational meeting Saturday, in which the only contested race resulted in the state Democratic Party chair having to be consulted on how to conduct it.

Georgiana Vines

Three people were nominated for vice chairman. Outgoing chairman Cameron Brooks, in trying to determine whether the winner should receive a majority or plurality votes, said, “Isn’t this a nice problem to have?”

Tennessee Democratic Party Chairwoman Mary Mancini advised for the rules committee to make a decision, since the issue was not in either the local or state bylaws. However, the delegates instead decided to opt for a majority of votes to determine the winner.

Nominated for vice chair were Linda Haney, a former county chair, Bryan Goldberg and Charles Frazier. Haney ended up winning on the first ballot with 90 votes, with 78.5 required. Goldberg received 41 and Frazier, 26.

Convention-goers anticipated nominations for Haney and Goldberg, but the nomination of Frazier — a former candidate for local office — was unexpected.

Ron Davis said that in nominating Frazier, “it’s important to have ethnic diversity at the table.”

Other officers were elected by acclamation. Emily Gregg, a classics major at the University of Tennessee and a Nashville native, was elected chairwoman to succeed Brooks after serving two years as secretary. Allie Cohn, who moved to Knoxville from Florida in August, was elected secretary, and Shannon Webb, who just completed her first two-year term as treasurer, was re-elected for two more years.

Brooks had announced several months ago he would not seek re-election and has since been appointed to the Knox County Election Commission.

More than 200 people attended the biennial convention at the Communications Workers of America Hall on Elm Street, many feeling elated that Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives had to pull a vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act on Friday because it did not have the support to pass.

Once the local elections were complete, former state Rep. Gloria Johnson got permission to take pictures of the Democrats holding up signs supporting ACA. She helped stage community rallies during the past few weeks, at which speakers talked about how repealing ACA would affect them.

Brooks said one of his priorities the past two years has been to recruit candidates for the Knox County Commission and the state Legislature. He noted that although only two were elected last year, he predicted some would become office holders in the future.

Gregg said it's important the party represent Democrats with a range interests and opinions. She said the 2016 election was disappointing, with Democrat Hillary Clinton's defeat and other candidates' losses, but now she feels “sheer joy” to fight to win this year and in 2018, she said.

Georgiana Vines is retired News Sentinel associate editor. She may be reached at gvpolitics@hotmail.com.