With just over 12 months to go until the most important election of our lifetimes, the final DNC meeting before the National Convention just wrapped up in St. Louis.

It was a fairly uneventful affair compared to the Winter meeting where we made historic changes to the nominating calendar. Mostly important, the coming showdown with Trump and an unprecedentedly dangerous Republican Party looms over everything.

The regions, caucuses and councils held their meetings with a renewed sense of urgency. Chair Jaime Harrison appointed new members to various standing committees, including California's own Hilda Solis as Credentials Committee Co-Chair. There was an issue of credentialing with the new Mississippi Party Chair who ascended to power under controversy, but whose credentials were instated for the meeting without incident. Perhaps the largest matter of direct business in front of delegates was the resolution of a bylaws dispute within the Alabama state Democratic Party. Without delving too far into the details, the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee (correctly, in my opinion) concluded that the fee structure of the Alabama state party was problematic, and that the state party's bylaws need to be altered to maximize participation and representation by the beginning of February 2024. The bylaws report was adopted nearly unanimously from the floor on Sunday.

There were a number of excellent resolutions that came out of this meeting as well. All passed unanimously and without incident both out of committee and from the floor. Among them were a resolution in support of the Biden administration's historic economic agenda; one in support of his ambitious climate agenda; one commemorating Hispanic Heritage month; resolutions in support of reproductive rights, gun violence prevention, the right to vote, labor rights, student loan forgiveness, lower prescription drug costs, the Equal Rights amendment, NATO and Ukraine, the Biden Child Tax credit, accessibility and affordability of high-quality education for all students, first amendment rights and public libraries, reporting on inhumane tactics used at the Texas Border, condemning deadnaming of transgender and nonbinary persons, expanding a free and open internet, discouraging the use of dark money in campaigns, and eliminating child marriage. There will also numerous resolutions to commemorate the lives and careers of recently deceased Democrats, including California's own Aleita Huguenin and Senator Dianne Feinstein.

Vice-President Harris made an appearance, speaking to the Women's Caucus and stopping in for a photo with the California delegation. It was also a particular joy of mine to join many of my fellow DNC members, alongside Chair Harrison, on a Saturday afternoon trip to support UAW 2250 on the picket line in their fight for better wages and conditions.

Quiet efforts and preparations toward reform and transparency within the party continue. But the appetite for internal conflict from any side of longstanding disputes within the party is frankly at a minimum. Almost everyone from the most moderate to the most progressive DNC member is singularly focused on defeating Trump and his MAGA Republican cohorts. If we fail, not only will the consequences for all Americans--and especially the most marginalized--be devastating, our democracy will likely not survive the ordeal. If Trump regains the White House, all the internal ideological and power struggles within the Democratic Party will be largely irrelevant. We must do whatever it takes within legal and ethical bounds to win--and win decisively. No major progressive policy wins will be possible at a national level without neutralizing the threat of raising fascism in America, and we must continue our ability to change the balance of the courts.

In that context, the biggest issues for transparency over the coming election year relate to allocation of election resources. In my opinion, the DNC could and should be doing much more to support outreach efforts to new voters and underserved communities, as well as bolstering struggling state parties. There is a frankly shocking and record amount of money that will be spent on the biggest races in the country, and political science data suggests that after a certain high mark the marginal utility value of dollars spent in high profile races shrinks dramatically with every extra dollar spent. How many times have we seen literally tens of millions of dollars sunk into races that we either won by very comfortable margins, or never had any chance of winning to begin with? By contrast, how often have we seen the marginal congressional race win up shockingly close, with a surprise win by a Republican or near-miss by an underfunded Democrat? I believe that in many races up and down the ballot, the margin of victory will come not from placing yet another TV ad buy in an overspent race, but from organizing in communities we have long underinvested in. The DNC is in a position to make many of those investments if it becomes accountable to its state organizers and its membership, and I will continue to work to help make that happen.

On that note, I want to mention that I am running again to be your California representative on the DNC. I would love to have your support and endorsement, and I look forward to speaking with each and every one of you about your perspectives on the DNC and what you feel we can and should do better.

With just over 12 months to go until the most important election of our lifetimes, the final DNC meeting before the National Convention just wrapped up in St. Louis.

It was a fairly uneventful affair compared to the Winter meeting where we made historic changes to the nominating calendar. Mostly important, the coming showdown with Trump and an unprecedentedly dangerous Republican Party looms over everything.

The regions, caucuses and councils held their meetings with a renewed sense of urgency. Chair Jaime Harrison appointed new members to various standing committees, including California's own Hilda Solis as Credentials Committee Co-Chair. There was an issue of credentialing with the new Mississippi Party Chair who ascended to power under controversy, but whose credentials were instated for the meeting without incident. Perhaps the largest matter of direct business in front of delegates was the resolution of a bylaws dispute within the Alabama state Democratic Party. Without delving too far into the details, the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee (correctly, in my opinion) concluded that the fee structure of the Alabama state party was problematic, and that the state party's bylaws need to be altered to maximize participation and representation by the beginning of February 2024. The bylaws report was adopted nearly unanimously from the floor on Sunday.

There were a number of excellent resolutions that came out of this meeting as well. All passed unanimously and without incident both out of committee and from the floor. Among them were a resolution in support of the Biden administration's historic economic agenda; one in support of his ambitious climate agenda; one commemorating Hispanic Heritage month; resolutions in support of reproductive rights, gun violence prevention, the right to vote, labor rights, student loan forgiveness, lower prescription drug costs, the Equal Rights amendment, NATO and Ukraine, the Biden Child Tax credit, accessibility and affordability of high-quality education for all students, first amendment rights and public libraries, reporting on inhumane tactics used at the Texas Border, condemning deadnaming of transgender and nonbinary persons, expanding a free and open internet, discouraging the use of dark money in campaigns, and eliminating child marriage. There will also numerous resolutions to commemorate the lives and careers of recently deceased Democrats, including California's own Aleita Huguenin and Senator Dianne Feinstein.

Vice-President Harris made an appearance, speaking to the Women's Caucus and stopping in for a photo with the California delegation. It was also a particular joy of mine to join many of my fellow DNC members, alongside Chair Harrison, on a Saturday afternoon trip to support UAW 2250 on the picket line in their fight for better wages and conditions.

Quiet efforts and preparations toward reform and transparency within the party continue. But the appetite for internal conflict from any side of longstanding disputes within the party is frankly at a minimum. Almost everyone from the most moderate to the most progressive DNC member is singularly focused on defeating Trump and his MAGA Republican cohorts. If we fail, not only will the consequences for all Americans--and especially the most marginalized--be devastating, our democracy will likely not survive the ordeal. If Trump regains the White House, all the internal ideological and power struggles within the Democratic Party will be largely irrelevant. We must do whatever it takes within legal and ethical bounds to win--and win decisively. No major progressive policy wins will be possible at a national level without neutralizing the threat of raising fascism in America, and we must continue our ability to change the balance of the courts.

In that context, the biggest issues for transparency over the coming election year relate to allocation of election resources. In my opinion, the DNC could and should be doing much more to support outreach efforts to new voters and underserved communities, as well as bolstering struggling state parties. There is a frankly shocking and record amount of money that will be spent on the biggest races in the country, and political science data suggests that after a certain high mark the marginal utility value of dollars spent in high profile races shrinks dramatically with every extra dollar spent. How many times have we seen literally tens of millions of dollars sunk into races that we either won by very comfortable margins, or never had any chance of winning to begin with? By contrast, how often have we seen the marginal congressional race win up shockingly close, with a surprise win by a Republican or near-miss by an underfunded Democrat? I believe that in many races up and down the ballot, the margin of victory will come not from placing yet another TV ad buy in an overspent race, but from organizing in communities we have long underinvested in. The DNC is in a position to make many of those investments if it becomes accountable to its state organizers and its membership, and I will continue to work to help make that happen.