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Democrats select Webber as new chairman

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The Missouri Democratic Party is turning to younger leadership in hopes of rebuilding the party after a dismal showing in the November election.

“The defeats we suffered last November will only be permanent if we let them, and we cannot let them,” Roy Temple, the outgoing chairman of the party said. “As we move forward, our party is blessed with two extraordinary groups of people. We have leaders who have served our party for decades, with a wealth of knowledge and experience to bring to the challenges we face. And our party has a new generation of activists who will bring fresh ideas and energy. My fervent hope is that, as we move forward, we find a way to put both to good use on behalf of our party.”

The work towards putting that mission into place began with Saturday’s meeting at Lincoln University. Every two years, the state committee is required to meet after the election to organize and elect a new chair, vice chair, secretary, and treasurer. The party showed a clear direction for the liberal leadership of Missouri, as members selected several younger candidates to fill the four open positions.

Roy Temple turned over his duties as the chairman of the Missouri Democratic Party to Rep. Stephen Webber, who was elected by the members over fellow nominee Winston Apple.

Webber comes to the position after a hard-fought battle for the state Senate seat in District 19, his home district. A licensed attorney with a degree from the University of Missouri School of Law, Webber lost to Republican candidate Caleb Rowden by just 2,151 votes. He is also a member of Iraq Afghanistan Veterans of America and the American Legion.

“If you truly believe in these things, if you truly believe in fighting for these people, you can’t give up. You can’t stop. The same issues and ideas that motivated us for the last couple of years are still there,” Webber said. “Those people still need us to fight for them, to be their voice, and I will be a loud voice for progressive issues. I’m determined to continue doing things that are difficult in order to represent those people.”

The other three positions for vice chair, secretary and treasurer were elected without any opposition.

Genevieve Williams comes to the vice chair position with plenty of experience in the Democratic Party; she has served as a committeewoman with the Missouri Democratic Party, the 5th Vice-President of the Missouri Federated Democratic Women’s Club, and is involved in countless other organizations. Most recently, she ran as the Democratic candidate in the bid for Missouri’s 7th District in the U.S House of Representatives. She lost to incumbent Republican Billy Long.

Clem Smith takes over as the secretary. The St. Louis resident currently serves as the state representative for Missouri’s District 85, and has been a member of the chamber since 2010.

Lauren Arthur was recently re-elected to the Missouri House of Representatives, serving the people of District 18. She takes over as the incoming treasurer for the Missouri Democratic Party.

The organization’s bylaws state that each position must be filled by a member of the opposite gender, so that two men and two women will fill the roles.

Following the elections, a number of people expressed interesting in creating caucuses for the LGBTQIA movement, along with an Urban Caucus and an Economic Caucus.

The party agreed to hold any actions on further business until the next meeting, when the chair is also expected to make appointments to the standing committees. Those appointments must be made within sixty days after the organizational meeting of the State Committee.