| Location |
| Wellman 212 |
| Hours |
| 6:00 pm Wednesdays |
| Website |
|
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The Davis College Democrats (DCD) is an organization with strong ties to the Democratic Party. DCD is looking for motivated members interested in being involved in the nationwide grassroots effort of the Democratic Party to help you regain control over your lives, future, and country. Come to our meetings, precinct walk with us, bring your tired, your poor, and your huddled masses yearning to be free!
The Davis College Democrats aim to educate the voting population, deflate youth apathy, foster student leadership, and work towards the betterment of our society. A student with an interest in learning more about the US Government, the Democratic Party, or the political universe will find that information in this organization. DCD also demonstrates a strong ability to provide opportunities for those wishing to become more involved, from campaign work to community service to lobbying on behalf of student issues. In accomplishing these tasks, students receive numerous opportunities to have one-on-one conversations with high-ranking government officials. As the official wing of the Democratic Party to students at UC Davis, we work to promote Democratic ideals and candidates.
Dream it. Change it. Live it!
For more information about us, join our
Facebook group, Email our president <bjcraig AT ucdavis DOT edu>, read the DCD Constitution by downloading it here:
DCD_Const_09.doc
2009-2010 Gameplan
Advocacy
DCD recognizes the importance of standing up not only for candidates, but for issues as well. The organization is developing a plan which involves lobbying each and every member of the California State Assembly and State Senate. This process includes creating a manual on each legislator and a brief description of their districts so that we may be better informed when promoting student issues. However, advocacy does not end at meeting with Assemblymembers and Senators. The organization will also be promoting letter-writing and phone-calling campaigns to legislative offices in support of integral issues. Students can have a positive impact on what happens in committee sessions and we fully intend on making that impact.
Campaigning
There is never a campaign shortage, even though it is an "off-election year." There are many local, statewide, and federal elections taking places at all times. Right now, there are numerous Congressional campaigns with which the organization can put members in contact. DCD has a history of performing "campaign invasions" and sees no end to that any time soon. But there are more ways to assist campaigns than performing on-site actions, such as phonebanking, which may be done from any location. Additionally, DCD is keeping in touch with the gubernatorial and other statewide campaigns. DCD will also be heavily encouraging work on local campaigns, as both Davis City Council and Yolo County Supervisor seats will be up for election in the near future.
Voter Registration
No political organization may truly consider itself legitimate if it doesn't register voters, especially in a college town where many students are on the move, without having re-registered. DCD, in conjunction with several other organizations, registered approximately 4,000 voters on campus prior to the November elections in 2008. With incoming freshmen and many older students having moved, DCD will be performing more voter registration this coming year.
Democratic Party Platforms
DCD has noticed that many students are uninformed about the platforms of the major political parties, and we plan to lessen this problem. If any student has questions about the Democratic Party, Democratic politicians, US Government, politics, etc..., DCD will be more than happy to address those concerns. DCD will be holding events dedicated to these issues throughout the year, as well as discussing them during general meetings. Our goal is that each member will be fully cognizant of what this party defends.
Membership Opportunities
Another main concern of ours is providing each and every member the opportunity that he or she is seeking. This could be a place on a campaign (one member, who graduated last year, is currently a campaign manager for a Congressional campaign), or a place in a legislators office (many club members have held similar positions, from internships to paid positions), or meeting elected officials (by hosting events with them or by attending events, such as the California Democratic Party's State Convention), or providing an immediate impact on the community in which we live (by participating in community service events at least once per month).
Please look for DCD on campus this year! We'll be advertising throughout the year, so expect to hear more from us!
DCD Executive Board '09-'10
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President: Brandon J. Craig
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Vice President of Communications: Kelsey McQuaid
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Vice President of Membership: Baxter Boeh-Sobon
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Vice President of Political Affairs: Jack Zwald
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Vice President of Finance: Sam Mahood
DCD Executive Board '08-'09
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President: DonGibson
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Vice President of Internal Affairs: Brandon J. Craig
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Vice President of Membership: Jack Zwald
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Vice President of Finance: Ayla Kapahi
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Vice President of Special Events: Previn Witana
Party Info
The California Democratic Party was successful in passing Proposition 1A-1E, Proposition 83 and Proposition 84. The California Democratic Party was also successful in defeating Proposition 85 and Proposition 90.
Abridged DCD History (Including ASUCD)
Our earliest known records consist of photocopied SOAC (Student Organizations and Activities Center, the precursor to SPAC) registration forms dating back to 1982, with the Registration of "Young Democrats at UC Davis". At the time of Registration, the club had 42 members.
The most recent incarnation of DCD occurred when Cecilia Escamilla-Greenwald and Scott Lay refounded the club and separately served as presidents in the 1990s.
DCD President Avi Singh successfully ran for ASUCD Senate as an independent in the Winter 2005 ASUCD Election.
On November 12th, 2006 the DCD declined to endorse ASUCD Senate candidates by refusing to suspend its bylaws.
On November 26th, 2006 DCD members voted to approve a club constitutional amendment allowing them the ability to endorse registered Democrats running for ASUCD Senate and ASUCD President. Then prominent members Mario Lopez, Max Mikalonis, and Steve Ostrowski voted for the amendment while Joseph Bleckman and AngelaPourtabib voted against. The vote was 6-3-0.
During the May of 2007, a second Constitutional Amendment updated the offices of the club, created new committees, resolved bylaw conflicts, and undid the November amendment, once again requiring candidates for ASUCD Senate and Executive Offices to be active members of the Davis College Democrats.
Unfortunately, most events and activities prior to this time have been lost.
2007-2008
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Work on Local Campaigns in May, 2008
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Davis City Council. See our questionnaire for the Democratic candidates for city council.
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DCD has Endorsed Cecilia Escamilla-Greenwald in the Davis City Council Race.
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8th Assembly District Race Check out our questionnaire for this race!
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DCD has Endorsed Christopher Cabaldon for the 8th Assembly District.
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5th Senate District Race
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DCD has Endorsed State Assemblywoman Lois Wolk in her bid for the 5th Senate District.
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Bring in Local Elected Officials on a Monthly Basis, and provide opportunities to work on their campaigns.
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DCD hosted Bill Clinton @ UC Davis on 1-15-2008, where he spoke to a packed crowd of over 7800 in the ARC Pavilion, with another 3500 being unfortunately turned away. This was one of the many accomplishments that led to DCD being named the California College Democrats Chapter of the Year.
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California Secretary of State Debra Bowen spoke on April 8th in Young 198 about the importance of voting and preventing election fraud.
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California State Assemblywoman Lois Wolk spoke with DCD during Fall 2007 about the budget, her time in the Assembly, and the State Senate.
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Three Incumbent members of the Davis City Council, and Democratic Candidates running for those seats, participated in DCD's first Democratic Candidates Forum.
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County Supervisor Helen Thomson spoke with DCD during the Winter Quarter 2008.
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Candidates for the vacant 4th district county supervisor seat spoke with DCD during Winter and Spring Quarters 2008.
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Individual City Council Members and Candidates have spoken with the club throughout the year.
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Continue to debate the Davis College Republicans and bring Political Dialogue to the campus.
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Hold Monthly Movie Nights, among other social activities both on and off campus, to promote unity within DCD and Have a Little Fun!
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Not true, we never had a movie night. - GregWebb
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Last one we tried to have was interrupted by Bill Clinton.... - M.
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Bring Political Opportunities to YOU, from internships in the Capitol or with local electeds to working on campaigns while thinking globally and acting locally to build your personal experience and Elect Great Democrats!
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Reach out to and work with other local democratic organizations, from the Davis Democratic Club and the Yolo County Democatic Central Committee to the Sac County Young Dems and the California College Democrats and California Young Democrats.
Related Websites
Take a Look at the New CA College Dems Site!
Check out the National College Democrats
Our Accomplishments in Photos
Angela Pourtabib (right) seen here with Kandice Kapri Richardson the President of the Yolo County Young Democrats(left), and former Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides(center).
DCD with former Senator John Edwards.
Angela Pourtabib (right) seen here with almost VP, former Senator John Edwards (center), and Melissa Torres Montoya (left).
Melissa, Angela, and Betty hanging out at the Young Democrats of America conference in San Francisco.
Angela, Eric, and Jesse gettin grass roots... Democrat style.
Angela, Sandy, and Val at the UPTE rally!
Our magical, mystical, no good, very bad banner.
We're actually talking about politics in this one! No joke!
Ernie (left), and Brian (right)
Mario, the new DCD President (far left), Jennifer Goldsmith (right next to him), Cameron Wilson (far right), and Treasurer Joseph Bleckman (front).
Paul A sitting next to Mario with new VP Max sitting behind them and Joseph in front of them.
Angela and Ernie thinking. Or staring off into space...
Who wants to pin the Scandal on the Republican?
Join the Revolution
Note: You must be logged in to add comments
2005-06-03 21:59:53 Woot! —AngelaPourtabib
2006-04-02 21:19:32 Count Me In for the Convention! It sounds like its going to be great! —EricTindall
2006-04-25 20:44:27 Levy is also heavily republican backed.... —JamesSchwab
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This makes sense given that there are no Republicans running (since Forbes just registered 'Decline to State'). They've got to vote for somebody. My guess is that those will be Ruth and Mike, given Stan's strong anti-Covell Village stance.
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Additionally, on Mike's page, he does not list the Republican endorsement (if there is one). This indicates that he is willing to fight for city council election solely on the merits of his own, liberal, platform, as opposed to as a figure that has been backed by a several political parties. When the DCD interviewed him, he said he didn't know if the Republicans had endorsed him. —MaxMikalonis
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In Davis, it is political death to say you are supported by Republicans. Mike told some conservative people on the ASUCD that Republicans are backing and working for him, so either he is telling the truth or lying and trying to ride the fence. JamesSchwab
2006-04-25 21:14:36 Well good thing the position is non-partisan... although word on the street says that the Republicans actually haven't endorsed him... but I'm sure whoever you heard that from wouldn't mislead you James —AngelaPourtabib
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I'm not sure which street you're on, maybe on Sword & Sandals Avenue there is a different word.
2006-07-25 22:31:56 Treasurer Joseph Bleckman was greatly pleased by the BBQ. With the leftovers he brought home he was able to eat for days. I'm disapointed though that none of the pictures truely captured my Evil Mustashe that I had back then. —JosephBleckman
2006-07-25 22:42:57 Nice job on the pics! —PaulAmnuaypayoat
2006-08-01 10:57:48 State party meeting this weekend in Burlingame! Anyone interested should join us in checking it out! —AngelaPourtabib
2006-10-03 23:30:24 I was rather pissed today at DCD. I planned on attending the "Meeting @ 8 PM at 212 Wellman". It was closed. Fortunately for many of the classes planning on meeting there, signs had been posted redirecting people to various places. No such luck with DCD. I went to Cafe Roma to see if maybe they'd congregated over there; no such luck. —SS
2006-10-03 23:47:11 We actually went to the Coffee House to have our meeting tonight. We didn't actually know that classes were redirecting people so I guess this time was just a case of bad luck. —AngelaPourtabib
It really wasn't bad luck. I'm not affiliated with the Democrat or Republican group on campus, but I received this message after joining the DCD Facebook Group. It was sent out just last night at 11:30 P.M. by your vice-president:
The DCD are Having their First meeting of the Quarter this Tuesday, October 3rd, at 8pm in Wellman 212.
During this meeting we will be Revising and Discussing our plans for the following weeks, including when we can Table to Increase our Visibility, Promote our Candidates, and Educate the UCD Public on the Issues We Stand For.
We have a Table, We have Materials, and We have a Plan... All we need now is For YOU to attend Our Meeting and Together We Can Make The Difference!
See you tomorrow!
Max Mikalonis
Davis College Democrats Vice President
I showed up to Wellman Hall 10 minutes early. There were several groups and multiple postings of cancelled classes, groups that were being directed elsewhere and so on. It wasn't bad luck that I couldn't find anyone affiliated with DCD, nor was it bad luck that I used my phone to search the Wiki, your website as well as several administative pages on the Facebook only to not find even 1 contact number or update to find out what had happened. The only clue I had was that the Wiki mentioned you meet at Cafe Roma as well. Nothing was going on over there either.
Really, I don't mind the goof. It was a little disappointing, but it wasn't bad luck either. I only want to point this out now because it seems obvious you guys need to regroup on recruiting methods. —SS
2006-10-04 02:19:12 Saul, Perhaps we left too late, perhaps you didn't see us, but we did gather as a group by the lawn, there WERE people affiliated with DCD in the area, and several new members did come with us to the CoHo, though I do know of two other than you that slipped through the cracks because of the impromptu room changes. That being said, I can't control the plumbing in Wellman Hall, and our Main Event is actually NEXT Tuesday's Meeting as opposed to This Tuesday's, so everything else so far has been closer to Icing on the Cake. —MaxMikalonis
2006-10-04 09:24:08 Who spends time to complain about this?? Especially when they dont even identify as Democrat? —JamesSchwab
2006-10-04 11:37:51 Uhm, the guy planning on showing up to the next meeting? What's up with the presumptuous question, dude? Is my vote not good enough for you? —SS
2007-05-30 18:59:45 Officer elections were crazy yo... —AngelaPourtabib
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lol, so who won then? - Paul Amnuaypayoat
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we are still doing them! I got bored so I got on the wiki...- Angela Pourtabib
2007-05-30 22:19:06 Questionable election but Bleckman for President! —GregWebb
2007-05-30 22:54:24 Next year will be great with our new leadership and we will make sure those who weren't elected. I really hope that with next fall we can "rush" many more people into the great causes that we support. Also does anyone want to write a resolution in support of making sodexho employees UC employees? —DonGibson
2007-07-24 01:01:22 DCD should endorse Dennis Kucinich and invite him to come to our meeting. —GregWebb
2007-10-03 10:25:02 Cecilia Escamilla Greenwald told me about how the Davis College Dems came around in the early 90's, so she might have more information about how it started. Also, I'm going to ask George Andrews about Igor Berman who I believe was President of DCD back in 00-01 and then jumped ship to DCR, and which left the club a little disorganized for a few years. That's what I remember from a previous conversation with George and Avi. —JamesSchwab
2007-10-28 17:06:47 I think Cecilia was in the mid 1990's and Scott was the late 90's. —JamesSchwab
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Actually, Cecilia and I were at the same time (1994-96). The campus's previous organization, Davis Young Democrats, had become overly involved (in our opinion) in campus politics, and wasn't affiliated with the statewide California College Democrats, California Young Democrats or the national College Democrats of America. Since I was president of California College Democrats at the time I transferred from Orange Coast College, we pushed Davis Young Democrats to affiliate, but it just wasn't their thing. Thus, after fighting the student activities bureaucracy for separate recognition (by then, DYD President Peter Nguyen was president of ASUCD, and felt that the clubs were competing), and with the help of Cinthia Hamner-Portugal (who served as Regional Director of College Democrats of America) and others, we got the club off the ground. We did have a tradition of working with DCR in a mutually beneficial way. We never had rallies together, but sponsored debates and forums that increased the visibility of party politics (rather than just ASUCD politics) on campus. Of course, this was during and after the "Contract with America" year of 1994 and through Clinton's 1996 re-election, so the parties looked starkly different. - ScottLay
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Thanks! Do you know what happened with DCD during the middle ages of 97-01? -JamesSchwab
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Very Interesting. We actually have a member who is interested in speaking with our previous Presidents in order to get the groups history down on paper. She's starting with Angela, but will be talking with yourself and Cecilia soon enough. -Max Mikalonis
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The story of Igor Birman being president and jumping parties is true, and a few other leaders struggled to maintain activism. Also, DCD got caught up in the same thing that was the downfall of the Davis Young Democrats—ASUCD politics. So, someone would run for leadership of DCD as a conduit to getting elected to ASUCD rather than to provide a connection to state and national politics. And, frankly, few things turn off more people than state and national politics, but student government is one. (I can say this as past president of the Law Students Association at King Hall and someone that did a lot of statewide student government stuff, albeit not ASUCD.) Most importantly, however, campus political activism goes in waves. The "everyone's safe" redistricting didn't help...many of us came together on campus to fight to save Congressman Vic Fazio in the 1994 Republican landslide. Vic was in line (3rd of 4th) to be Speaker of the House, and he was in a competitive seat. Across the state, young Democrats and Republicans used to find their connection to politics through local Assembly, State Senate and Congressional campaigns. Those campaigns are just not exciting anymore, at least in the general election. More often, we're fighting within parties (see the race between two good friends of mine Cabaldon v. Yamada for an example). So, instead of having a big fight to win the 8th AD in the general, when Democrats are united as one, we spend a year divided over who the nominee is, and that nominee is almost certainly going to win the seat in the general. Anyway, that's far more than you asked for!—ScottLay
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Thanks again! That's a great insight about the affects of safe districts on party involvement too.-JamesSchwab
2007-11-26 22:37:14 I love how DCD and DCR joined together for last Monday's rally. Good job proving you're the same party. —JessicaRockwell
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Sad isn't it? - GregWebb
2007-11-26 23:28:02 What rally did DCD and DCR both participate in? —JamesSchwab "they raised money for the families of fallen soldiers. I wasn't a big fan of how the rally went down (DCR insisted on the pledge and the national anthem) but there are worse things in the world people can devote their time to." Andrew
2008-01-18 16:42:49 I went to Kleiber to see the debate. Wasn't able to attend the reschedule and sorry to have missed it. —MischaGushiken
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Sorry about that. The UCD Administration put a class over our Debate time, which we reserved over the break, and it didn't show up on the room reservation system until it was too late. The event was fantastic and I'm pretty sure one of my friends recorded it, so when it hits YouTube, links will be posted. We will be doing another one in April, and it'll be even better. —-M
2008-09-25 22:24:07 Anyone planning to watch tomorrow's debate? I'm looking for someone with a TV who would like to watch the debates together, as I have no TV. —IDoNotExist
2009-03-31 18:45:16 DCD throws some good parties. —CodyDuncan


