About the Champaign County Democratic Party

The Democratic Party of Champaign County, Illinois works for positive and progressive change at the local, regional, state, and national levels. Working within one of the few “blue” states between the coasts, the party enjoys strong support of the local electorate. Once the minority party in the county, the Democrats now maintain majorities on the Urbana City Council, Champaign City Council, and Champaign County Board. They also hold control over state representation for the 103rd Representative district (Naomi Jakobbsson), and, most recently, over the 52nd Senate District (Michael Frerichs). At the state level, every statewide office is held by a Democrat, and at the national level, the party enjoys representation by Senators Dick Durbin and Barack Obama.

Meetings and Social Events

Champaign County Democrats hold several types of meetings and social events throughout the year. Check our calendar for specific dates and locations.

 

Monthly Democratic Socials

Join us! All Democrats are welcome to attend the monthly socials held on the last Friday of each month, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Local Democrats take turns hosting these socials in their homes, where Dems can gather to talk politics and enjoy some great food and beverages. It’s a great way to meet politically active Democrats in a congenial atmosphere.

Democratic Meet-Ups

All Democrats are invited to participate in the Champaign County Democrats Meet-Ups. Each meeting focuses on one timely issue and features a panel of well-informed guest speakers to give local Democrats the opportunity to learn about important issues, ask questions, participate in the group discussion, and take action.

Democratic Events

All Democrats are encouraged to attend the Democratic Dinners held in the spring and fall, which typically bring over 200 community members together for an evening of fellowship, fun, and meeting Democratic elected officials and candidates. The annual Democratic picnic is held late summer and serves some of the best barbeque in the county.

Organizational Business Meetings

Democratic precinct committee members are elected every two years in the Democratic primary election. Democrats who are elected or appointed to serve as precinct committee members on the Champaign County Central Committee meet on the fourth Wednesday of the month at the Party Headquarters located on Washington Street in Champaign. To locate your precinct committee representative, visit the people page. Executive Board meetings are scheduled by the Party Chair as needed, usually on a monthly basis.

Party Headquarters

Democratic Party Headquarters The Party maintains its headquarters at 110 S. Neil St. in Downtown Champaign, IL. This central and visible location provides a home base for party operations, including campaigns, fundraisers, volunteer efforts (voter registration, etc.), central committee meetings, and others. Volunteers staff the space so that anyone can stop by or call for more information, pick up yard signs, and more.

Getting Involved

Interested in helping elect Democrats in Champaign County? Want to help out on a campaign? Have a skill you could lend to the party’s efforts? We welcome all manner of involvement, from the very small to the very large. If you want to lend your efforts, please fill out our volunteer form. You may also be interested in attending one of our Last Friday Democratic Social Hours. These events, typically held on the last Friday of the month at 5:30 at a local Democrat’s home, are great times to meet others with similar interests, hear about what’s going on, and just plain have a good time. Check the calendar for specific dates.

Party Platform

We want the world to know what we stand for, and have written it up in our recently passed party platform.  We believe that in order to fulfill our democracy’s greatest promise, our government must work for the social and economic equity of all people.  We have broken our common goals into a number of categories, including: Health Care and Human Services, Education, Economic Opportunity, Criminal Justice and Public Safety, Environment and Land Use, Participatory Government, Democratic Party Principles, and National Priorities.  The elected leaders of the Champaign County Democratic Party endorsed this platform at its County Convention on March 5, 2008.  The party will thus work towards advancing these goals, including urging our representatives in government to join us.

By-Laws

The By-Laws of the Champaign County Democratic Central Committee govern the operations of the Central Committee. These by-laws are updated from time-to-time, and were most recently adopted on August 26, 2006. The substantive change at that time was an alteration that allows the Central Committee to endorse candidates for primary elections (previously this had been prohibited).

Nearby Democratic Organizations

Being part of a national political party, we partner with a number of other like-minded organizations. Amongst those are: