Diversity Chair says Democrats on the rise - story in Jan 8, 2010 News Connection

Thursday, 14 January 2010 23:05

The News Connection story  by Valerie Mason

 Meet Toni Medellin, the Diversity Chair for the Democratic Party in Denton County.  According to Medellin her main responsibility is to appeal to people who are not well represented within the party.  “The Democratic Party is a very diverse group, but, if you look at the leadership, it may not look so diverse.  My job is to find voters and candidates, especially people of color; women, minorities, under-represented groups and invite them to become more active,” she said,

“We know they (the under-represented groups) are our constituencies, but they’re not necessarily in leadership positions.” Medellin is a graduate of the University of Texas at Arlington and Rutgers University School of Law, in Camden, New Jersey. She is married to Ben Briseño and they have a 23 year-old son, Benny.  The family moved around the country while her husband was in the oil business.  Her law career began in Oklahoma where she worked at a non-profit organization that advocated for people with disabilities and then eventually for a large law firm in Houston, before moving to South Denton County.

     Up until the last presidential election, Denton County voters were primarily Republican, but Medellin believes that is changing.  “The 2008 Democratic primary saw almost 55,000 voters, which is huge,” she said, “as voter turnout is usually low for primaries.” According to Medellin, for the first time, Texas mattered for Democrats because the Presidential nomination was up for grabs.

Medellin said that as the Diversity Chair she encourages Denton County Democrats to get involved in the community, especially in this area where Democrats have traditionally been the minority.  “We have become members of the Chambers of Commerce, attend all kinds of community events and are active with charity organizations,” she added. An important factor, she said, is to make sure Hispanic representatives are at these events who can speak with the locals, as well as the Spanish speaking press.

She said the concerns of Hispanics are the same as everyone else’s; they are worried about the economy, jobs, access to healthcare, the rise of college tuition and the fall of financial aid.  “One half of all new voters are Hispanic, they trend two to one Democratic voters.  As the Hispanic population grows the Democratic victories will grow,” Medellin explained. 

Full story at  http://thenewsconnection.com/article/Main_News/Local/
Diversity_Chair_says_Democrats_on_the_rise/33191

Irate comment on The News Connection's website:  Why is it so common to see Democrat Party leadership highlighted here and nothing about Republican leadership. This article highlights outreach efforts by democrats and totally ignores long-standing, highly successful outreach efforts by Denton County Republicans. Denton County's GOP has been a long-time supporter of hispanic outreach in the county.

dhjawor7