Growing Youth Involvement in the State Parties and DNC

One of the great side-effects of high youth turnout this year is a comparable increase in youth participation within the state parties. Here's two such stories.

First in Hawaii:

The infusion of new blood and energy is a blessing for many party activists eager for a "second wave" of new Democrats to keep the party in the majority in Hawai'i. With the state party's leadership in generational transition, the timing of the Obama surge is fortunate. The blend of new faces with party regulars enthusiastic about grassroots activism gives the convention a richness and vibrancy that has often been missing in recent years.
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The number of party members under 35, according to the Young Democrats of Hawai'i, has jumped from under 1,000 to about 5,100 during the membership drive that surrounded the caucuses.

And in Wyoming:

Wyoming Democrats say the selection of two 18-year-olds as delegates to the party's national convention this summer is representative of an upswing in youth interest in politics -- a trend both Democrats and Republicans hope will translate into votes.
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Mike Bell, chairman of the Laramie County Democrats, said this year's state Democratic convention was unique because of the competition for delegate positions and the number of young people involved. The young participants were well organized, he said.

"In years past, they've had to scramble to get people to go to the convention," Bell said. "There hasn't been this kind of excitement in a while."

You also probably remember that there were literally hundreds of young voters interested in delegate positions in California earlier this year.

These are all good signs, but we shouldn't pat ourselves on the back just yet. This is all anecdotal data from just a few states at the moment. Here are my top questions about youth participation within the state and national party structures:

• How many young people were successfully elected as pledged delegates at the state conventions this year? Are those numbers reflective of the youth share of the electorate in those states? If not (probably not), how can we use that to leverage the state parties and DNC into implementing the the mandatory youth affirmative action goals in the DNC charter?
• What resources will states put forth in organizing young voters this cycle? Which states will hire staff and actually have those staff work on youth identification and GOTV?
• How many young people are DNC committee members? Is that representative of young people's share of the Democratic electorate? If not, (probably not), how can we get more young people elected to the DNC?

I know that the DNC Youth Council is collecting data on the first issue. Many states have not yet selected their delegates and others are having problems collecting reliable data on delegates who qualify as "youth" (under 35). Hopefully we'll have a clearer picture of that soon. As for the other two questions - so far I don't know if anyone is working on that. The matter of how states dole out organizing resources is a tough one that will require a lot of local youth advocates making the case within their state party. The third issue seems to be a matter of data collection and self-organizing: find out how the election process works in each state and then help potential candidates navigate the system.

I'm flying down to Nashville this afternoon for the YDA Convention. I'll be asking around about these things.