In North Carolina, the U.S.' Youngest Party Chair Has a Plan for Attracting Voters and Winning Elec

In North Carolina, the U.S.’ Youngest Party Chair Has a Plan for Attracting Voters and Winning Elections in the Battleground State
9/5/2023 by Emily G. Tynes
Clayton’s strategy for revitalizing the Democratic Party in North Carolina is to expand the party’s base by focusing on young voters and rural communities.



Elected at 25 years old, Anderson Clayton is the youngest chair of a state Democratic party. (Jenny Warburg)

The headquarters of North Carolina’s Democratic Party calls to mind times gone by, the stately, neoclassical mansion conjuring up visions of lazy summer evenings amid the sweet scent of magnolias. But the Goodwin House’s new inhabitant is anything but old-fashioned—25-year-old Anderson Clayton is gritty rather than stately, a woman on a mission, dissatisfied with the status quo, fiercely determined and keen to revitalize her party. In February, Clayton ousted Bobbie Richardson—a woman 48 years her senior who was endorsed by the North Carolina Democratic establishment, including Gov. Roy Cooper—to become the youngest party chair in the nation. The upset surprised even Clayton. “I ran for state party chair, not expecting to win anything,” she told Ms. “It was more about putting up a fight. Regardless of what you think of me, you know I am a fighter and will take on any injustice I see.”

Clayton is not timid about voicing her opinions on politics in general and the state Democratic Party in specific. When she speaks about injustices, she is alluding to what she calls the “money-driven” culture of politics and self-centered ambition that turns off people who are committed to the common good, especially, she said, “those who operate in the activist and organizing space. People who see politics as improving lives write off the N.C. Democratic Party as a party of power grabbers or people who want to make it somewhere. … Party politics is not about being a public servant anymore. It is about being a politician.”

Clayton’s own introduction to politics began at Appalachian State University, where she became involved with the Democratic Party by registering students to vote. After that, she worked on North Carolina Rep. Kathy Manning’s campaign for the U.S. House. And in 2020, she jumped into national politics, working as a staffer on the presidential campaigns of both now-Vice President Kamala Harris and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Clayton’s strategy for revitalizing the Democratic Party in North Carolina—a battleground state in the upcoming 2024 elections—is to expand the party’s base by focusing on young voters and rural communities, which she believes the party has ignored for far too long.

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Voter suppression and gerrymandering are entrenched in North Carolina politics, giving Republican legislators a veto-proof majority to pass anti-woman bills. (Jenny Warburg)

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A Mother’s Day rally for Moms Demand Action—gun violence is a hot topic for young voters, Clayton reports (Jenny Warburg)

Other voter suppression efforts compound the barriers some communities face in participating in elections. Starting with the municipal races this September, voters must show a state-issued photo ID to cast their ballot. This means going to the additional step of obtaining the document, and this includes college students. The law also negatively impacts Black Americans, especially older voters, because many don’t have birth certificates, which are required to secure an ID. Although voter suppression and partisan gerrymandering are entrenched in North Carolina politics, Clayton is confident that her party has a path to victory in 2024. In multiple interviews with the media, she has insisted that winning back rural voters would reap dividends, and organizing young voters would expand Democratic support.

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https://msmagazine.com/2023/09/05/north-carolina-2024-elections-democrats-anderson-clayton/