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Nevada Democratic Party

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Nevada Democratic Party
ChairpersonRoberta Lange
Headquarters6233 Dean Martin Drive
Las Vegas, Nevada
 United States
IdeologyLiberalism
Progressivism
Social liberalism
National affiliationDemocratic Party
ColorsBlue
Website
www.nvdems.com

The Nevada State Democratic Party (NSDP) is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the state of Nevada. It is headed by state chairman Roberta Lange.[1]

History

The state of Nevada has had 22 political parties over the years.[2] Only six of these parties lasted up until the 2004 elections. These six parties are the Democrats, Republicans, Independent Americans, Greens, Natural Law Party and Libertarians. The Democratic Party and the Republican Party remain as the top two in the state.

With the help of Abraham Lincoln in 1864, Nevada became the 36th state in America. Lincoln’s Republican influence was considerable among the Nevada state citizens during his presidency. The first two general elections in Nevada, held in 1864 and 1867, were dominated by the Republican Party. In 1871, the Democratic Party started to gain momentum and won four of the six constitutional offices: governor, lieutenant governor, state treasurer and attorney general.

Towards the beginning of the 1900s, the Silver Party was formed, bringing many Republicans and Democrats together from the western states. The party was so-named because of the federal government’s shortage of silver coins in 1873. The Silver Party played a prominent role in Nevada’s politics in the 1894 and 1898 elections. The Silver Party later formed the Silver Democratic Party. The Silver Democratic Party was prominent in Nevada until the election of 1906. After the election of 1906, the Democratic and Republican parties became the two primary parties in Nevada.

During the Great Depression of 1929, the two primary parties split many constitutional and federal offices. After the Great Depression, the citizens of Nevada preferred the Democratic Party over the Republican Party. Democrats were well received by Nevada and won most of the statewide and federal races from 1932 until 1995.

Convention platform[3]

The current platform for the party was ratified in 2010. The topics that are covered are standard to the Democratic Party. Armed service/veterans, civil rights, education, elections and government, environment and energy, foreign policy, jobs and the economy and working Nevadans are the areas that are discussed.[3]

Party structure

The party has a formal set of by-laws that form the party structure. These by-laws contain nine articles with many sections in each article. A summary of each article is listed below.[4]

Article I- The Democratic Party of the State of Nevada

Article I discusses the party’s role in being a political party. The NSDP assists in the election of local, state, and national Democratic candidates, adopts statements of policy, gives equal opportunities for people wanting to be members of the Democratic party, raises and disburses money that is needed for continuing the NSDP, and works with other Democratic officials to achieve these goals.

Article II -State Democratic Convention

Article II describes the State Democratic Convention. The State Convention is the highest authority of the party. The convention purpose is to implement a state party platform. The State Convention is called by the NSDP Chair once every two years in even numbered years. The State Convention can implement its own permanent rules. The Parliamentarian for the State Democratic Convention is appointed by the Chair.

Article III- Nevada State Democratic Central Committee

In Article III, the Nevada State Democratic Central Committee (or State Central Committee (SCC)) is defined. This article provides information on the duties and responsibilities of the SCC. The SCC is the governing body of the party. The SCC contains five primary members: Chair, First Vice-Chair, Second Vice-Chair, Secretary, and Treasurer.

Article IV-Executive Committee

Article IV is dedicated to the Executive Committee. This article offers information on the duties and responsibilities of the Executive Committee.

Article V- Other Organizations Authorized to Function Continuously

Article V states that organizations that are affiliated with the NSDP are authorized to abide by the charters and by-laws given in the following articles. This article also describes how a county exceeding a population of 100,000 can align with other counties to form District Central Committees.

Article VI- Party Organizations Convened Periodically

Article VI discusses delegates, who get to elect them, and when the delegates can be elected. The article also mentions that all organizations that coincide with the NSDP are allowed to have by-laws and charters so long as they do not interfere with the by-laws of the NSDP.

Article VII- Full Participation

In Article VII, the NSDP accepts all people, who are Democrats, to be a member of the organization. No discrimination is allowed in the party. The NSDP requires that affiliated organizations adopt a diversity program to promote diversity within a given organization.

Article VIII- General Provisions

Article VII states that all charters made and proposed in the NSDP must adhere to the by-laws and charters of the Democratic Party of the United States. The article mentions that all meetings of the NSDP are open to the public unless the meeting is voted into an executive session. All meetings must have proper documentation and available to the public when asked to view the documents.

Article IX- Amendments, Bylaws and Rule

Article IX is about amendments, bylaws, and rules. All amendments added to the charter must be approved by a majority vote or 2/3 vote of the members present during the time of voting. The NSDP and SCC must maintain copies of their own current rules and make them available upon request.

Current Democratic officeholders

The Nevada Democratic Party controls none of the state's six statewide offices, a minority in the Nevada Senate and a minority in the Nevada Assembly. Democrats also hold one of the state's U.S. Senate seats and one of the state's four U.S. House of Representatives seats.

Members of Congress

U.S. Senate

Harry Reid – United States Senator from Nevada

U.S. House of Representatives

Statewide offices

  • None

Executive Board[5]

  • Chair: Roberta Lange
  • 1st Vice-Chair: Chris Wicker
  • 2nd Vice-Chair: Linda Cavazos
  • Secretary: Marla Turner
  • Treasurer: Jan Churchill

Nevada Democratic National Committee Members[6]

County chairs (ex officio)

Controversy

The party was sued by Righthaven LLC for copyright infringement on July 9, 2010.[7][8] The allegations were that the party had posted stories from the Las Vegas Review-Journal on the party’s website without permission. Righthaven LLC is a partner of the Review-Journal that sues website owners that post unauthorized stories from the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Righthaven LLC wanted between $75,000 and $150,000 in damages and an order for the Democrat’s to stop infringing on the copyright. On September 14, 2010 the two parties reached a settlement.

References

  1. ^ "About Us". Nevada State Democratic Party. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  2. ^ Hal K. Rothman. The Making of Modern Nevada. Fall 2010. September 8, 2011.
  3. ^ a b Democratic, Nevada. "2010 Ratified Convention Platform | Blog | Nevada State Democratic Party". Nvdems.com. Retrieved 2013-01-21.
  4. ^ "Charter and Bylaws of the Nevada State Democratic Party" (pdf). June 27, 2009. Retrieved 2013-01-21.
  5. ^ https://web.archive.org/20081128065411/https://www.nvdems.com/images/nsdp%20e-board%20list%20september%202008.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 28, 2008. Retrieved March 3, 2009. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ "Nevada Democrats Elect 26 Delegates to the Democratic National Convention 14 Obama, 11 Clinton, 1 unpldg add-on". Gwu.edu. Retrieved 2013-01-21.
  7. ^ charleyhorse. "Nevada Democratic Party hit with R-J copyright lawsuit - Las Vegas Sun News". Lasvegassun.com. Retrieved 2013-01-21.
  8. ^ "Nevada Democratic Party settles copyright lawsuit". Vegas Inc. Retrieved 2013-01-21.
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