On March 2nd the Cumberland County Democratic Committee gathered for their annual county convention. With two seats up on the county commissioners board and control of the board at stake, plus a spot atop the ticket open for the chance to unseat Rep. Jeff Van Drew, there was much excitement in the room.

In years past the county convention process for endorsing a candidate would leave much to be desired. Usually the decision would be made by the steering committee, an unelected body composed of committee members picked by the County Chair. They would meet before the convention to caucus and hear from the candidates then vote on which candidate to award the party endorsement, or the line. The General body was only allowed to accept or reject the steering committee recommendation without knowing the reasons for their decisions and weren’t able to have the candidates directly address the whole body. The lack of transperience would usually create confusions among the members and a sense they were left in a take it or leave it situation. The confusion and lack of transparency turned people away from the party and cost County campaigns valuable volunteers and eventually votes at the ballot box.

This year however, party leadership adopted a model that involved all members and was much more transparent. Still using the steering committee but making the important change of allowing all of the candidates directly address the general body. This important move allowed all members to hear from the candidates and ask them questions. For the first time in some years members learned directly from the candidates their stances on different issues, their own personal story, and their strategy for winning in the primary and the general election. Empowered with this new information committee members were enthused to adopt the recommendation of the steering committee. Usually the steering committee would endorse only one candidate even if there were several qualified candidates running the primary, however this year the steering committee decided to send all the candidates to the primary election, effectively not awarding the line to any candidate.

Now in Cumberland county the democratic voters will be able to hear directly from three very qualified candidates and decide themselves which candidate should represent them in the general election. By allowing the candidates to compete evenly against each other the best candidate will have the opportunity to rise to the top. This even playing field will be a win for voters, the democratic party, and Cumberland county. And most importantly it is a win for Democracy overall here in Cumberland County.