Who We Are: Gateway Democrats is comprised of representatives from six County Democratic Central Committees* in the St. Louis Metropolitan Area: St. Louis City, St. Louis County, St. Charles, Franklin, Jefferson, and Lincoln Counties.
Our Mission: To build momentum for progressive causes with an emphasis on attracting new faces to community events that will increase interest in our legislative processes, Township Democratic Clubs, and progressive advocacy groups.
Our Approach: We run 3 to 4 events per year. Each half-hour is divided into two segments: 15 minutes of presentations followed by 15 minutes to encourage socializing, networking, and visiting the various advocacy booths. Our programs are designed to be educational and motivating for both people who are new to participating in their government and those who are more experienced.
* Democratic Central Committees are part of the State Democratic Party, and are made up one Committeeman and one Committeewoman from each Township in their respective county. Committeepeople serve 4 year terms, and appear on the Presidential Primary Democratic Party ballot. One function of Township Committeepeople is to run a caucus in presidential election years to elect delegates to represent the state at the National Democratic Party Convention where our votes are cast to select our candidate for president, etc. Many, but not all townships, have Democratic Clubs, and some new ones are forming in areas that previously did not have one. Township Democratic Clubs are a good example of grassroots input into our political process. Meetings usually include updates from locally elected officeholders, advocacy groups, and subject matter experts such as university Political Science professors.
One can look up their township and legislators at the link below:
https://voteroutreach.sos.mo.gov/PRD/VoterOutreach/VOSearch.aspx
For information call Harvey Ferdman at 314-761-5100 (cell).
Submitted by Harvey Ferdman, Member of WCD & Gateway Democrats