A top Democratic official in Alabama has said that one of his party’s U.S. senators in the state “is a racist” and accused him of marginalizing black party members and wanting them “to pick the cotton” but not “manage the plantation.”
The Democratic National Committee’s Black Caucus Vice Chairman Randy Kelley, who is black, blasted Doug Jones, who is white, and his allies in the DNC for pressuring African Americans to increase the representation of Hispanic, Asian, youth, gay, and disabled party members in a new “Diversity Caucus,” a move he argues would reduce the influence of black Democrats.
Kelley and state party chair Nancy Worley, who is white, are furious about a DNC challenge to how votes were counted in their 2018 reelection.
“This is a racist attempt to undermine our black voters and steal an election,” Kelley, a United Methodist pastor, told the Washington Examiner. “There is not anything wrong with Nancy Worley or the bylaws. The only thing that is wrong for them is they lost the election.”
The ugly row could result in Alabama Democrats being without delegates at the party’s national convention in Milwaukee next year when the Democratic candidate to oppose President Trump will be nominated and could damage the 2020 reelection chances of Jones, who already faces an uphill battle in a Republican state. Jones was a shock winner against GOP nominee Roy Moore, who faced multiple allegations of sexual misconduct.
Worley, who has been state party chairwoman since 2013, was reelected 101-89 after being challenged by Peck Fox, a Montgomery lobbyist who was nominated by Jones. The DNC, represented by veteran Clinton operatives and Washington lobbyists, demanded a fresh leadership election in Alabama but was rebuffed. The DNC nullified the credentials of Worley and Kelley.
Joe Reed, vice chairman of minority affairs of the Alabama Democratic Party, who is black, said, “This is racism. This has nothing to do with anything else. And then they want us to bring in other groups and double or triple their vote.”
Alabama Democratic membership is 56% black, 37% white, and 4% Hispanic.
Kelley, who is from Moore’s home town of Gadsden, accused Jones of being “obsessed” with taking over the state party after competing unsuccessfully for state party chairman several times. “Yes, Doug Jones is a racist,” Kelley said. “He said during our first meeting with the DNC Credentials Committee that he has been called a Dixiecrat. If the Dixiecrats are not racist, who is?”
The Dixiecrats were Southern Democrats who seceded from the party in 1948 in protest against the extension of civil rights.
“It’s their last chance because they can’t win in a fair election … the closest election was the chair race in the gentleman that they ran against Nancy Worley, but my election wasn’t even close at all, so they have a problem with blacks,” he continued. “Even though we are the majority of voters. They want us to vote. They want us to pick the cotton, but they don’t want us to manage the plantation.”
Last month, Worley said there would be “a special circle in hell as hot as it can be” for any Democrat trying to reduce the influence of black party members in Alabama. When asked by the Washington Examiner about the accusations by Kelley and Reed, Jones refused to respond in detail, saying only, “They’re wrong.”
A subcommittee of the DNC last week set forth new bylaws for the ADP. The national party ordered the present state party leadership to hold new elections by October 19 or risk losing delegation seats at the next DNC Convention.
The new bylaws were issued by a group that includes well known Democrats in the Alabama House of Representatives who are members of the State Democratic Executive Committee (SDEC). These individuals direct policy and help establish leadership of the state party.
[Previous coverage: Doug Jones taunts Roy Moore: ‘Sorry Roy, guess they’re just not that into you anymore’]
