Dorothy Engelman was re-elected Chair and will serve until 2015.  The Vice chair is Robert Maloney; Katie Madsen will serve as Treasurer and Randy Thomson is the new County Secretary.  The County Central Committee is expanding to 9 people as a result of growth within the party.

State Party Chair, Senator Jim Dabakis, spoke about the successes and challenges of Utah Democrats and charted a course forward for party growth.  Utah Democratic Party Program Director, Lauren Littlefield, discussed upcoming voter registration drives targeted toward eligible, non-registered citizens.  Elizabeth Roberts, LDS Democratic Outreach Coordinator,  spoke with LDS members prior to the meeting and then described the goals of the LDS Caucus, which is the largest Democratic caucus in the state.  She will be scheduling activities for this group in Washington County in the near future.

A State of the County report was presented by Chair Engelman who highlighted advancements in the past year including an increase in caucus and convention attendance in 2012, more involvement by 30-50 year olds in party activities, the establishment of a year-round Southern Utah Democratic Party Field Office, and more visibility in the media.  Barbara Rusick, President of the Democrats of Southern Utah organization and Linda DiSante, Co-Chair of the Women’s Democratic Club of Southern Utah, also touted achievements of their organization.

Upcoming events include the following activities during the next month:

• Conversation Over Easy, a new informal breakfast gathering to be held Wednesdays at 9:30 a.m. at George’s Corner Restaurant, 2 W. St. George Blvd. in St. George begin May 22, 2013.

• The Women’s Democratic Club will meet Saturday, June 1, 2013, at 11:00 a.m. at the Wagon Wheel Restaurant on St. George Blvd. reservations requested.

• A Progressives‘ Potluck Picnic in the Park is being sponsored by the Democrats of Southern Utah and will take place from 11 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, June 15, 2013, at Vernon Worthen Park.  Information about these activities and other Democratic doings may be found at www.thewashingtondems.com or by calling Dorothy Engelman at 435.879.1558.

The State Democratic Convention is June 21-22, 2013 in Ogden, UT and delegates will be electing new state officers as well as deciding whether to continue using the Caucus system to choose state candidates or to begin using a Direct Primary approach.  The decision will be first implemented in the 2016 elections.  More information about the Utah State Democratic Party is at http://www.utahdemocrats.org.