What You Need to Know About the S.F. Democratic County Central Committee

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A meeting of the Democratic County Central Committee. Public Press photo.

If you are a registered democrat living in San Francisco, your ballot for the March election is likely to be long because there are more than 50 candidates running to fill 24 seats on the Democratic County Central Committee (DCCC), the governing body of the local Democratic Party.

The San Francisco Democratic Party registers voters, raises money and endorses candidates for elected office. Jason McDaniel, associate professor of political science at San Francisco State University, helps explain the committee’s structure, history and role in city politics.

Only registered democrats vote in the DCCC election. County central committees exist for other parties as well — dozens of candidates are running to fill seats on the local committees for the Republican, Green, and Peace and Freedom parties — but because their number of open seats matches or exceeds the number of candidates, those contests won’t be appearing on voters’ ballots.

“What’s going on here is a contest for control of the local Democratic Party, to be able to then influence who will get the endorsement, and who will get contributions or other help from the party.” – Jason McDaniel

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