Jackson County Democratic Committee

Democrats 21st Century is uniquely structured as an all-volunteer democratic service organization unlike most area democratic clubs. There are no dues to belong to the organization, but everyone can contribute money through the “Booster Club” and give service through the many volunteer opportunities the club has.

Democrats 21st Century was formed in 1999 by Democratic Committeewoman and
former President of Sni-A-Bar Democratic Club, Alta Stephens; Mary Ellen Miller who had just completed a term as Chairperson of the Jackson County Democratic Committee and had been a national labor union official; as well as Mike Krasovec, a Regional Director of the Sheet Metal Workers Union.

Democrats 21st Century operates a full-time office, staffed entirely by volunteers, just off the Independence Square at 202 W. Maple (461-2233, www.Democrats21stCentury.org). For several years Democrats 21st Century was the de-facto phone number for the area democratic party. Due to the fact that Democrats 21st Century was the only listing in the phone book that started with “Democrats”, when anyone called the phone company to find “the democrats”….that person was given the number of Democrats 21st Century. So, the dedicated volunteers at Democrats 21st Century directed callers to a Democratic Club in the callers area, gave out legislators contact numbers and attempted to provide callers whatever help they might need. During many elections including three Presidential elections, Democrats 21st Century has done extensive phone-banking to assist candidates and I.D. democrats, supplied door-to-door volunteers, and held many successful candidate fundraisers. The office was then and still is, a pick-up point in Eastern Jackson County for numerous yard signs. Democrats 21st Century- trained volunteers, have served in various functions in many candidate campaigns. Due to the close proximity of the office to the Eastern Jackson County Election Board, Democrats 21st Century handled various voter complaints on election days as well as throughout the year.

One of the accomplishments of which Democrats 21st Century is most proud is that of having registered hundreds of new democratic voters and having supplied thousands of new democratic voter I.D.’s directly into the Missouri Democratic Party data bank. Alta Stephens said, “we used to have to call or go door-to-door to I.D. Democrats. Now, with the Democrats 21st Century office, people come to us. They come to get a yard sign, or pickup an Obama sticker, or any of the reasons that might bring them to the office. Each person fills out a short form and that Democratic I.D. information is then provided directly to the State Democratic Party”.

Alta and Mary Ellen were asked to conduct classes on volunteer recruitment at Camp Carnahan, the Democratic Training sessions named for the late Governor Mel Carnahan. And, Alta was selected by the Democratic National Committee in 1998 as the Missouri recipient of the Lawrence O’Brien Volunteer of the Year award, in large part due to her work at Democrats 21st Century on behalf of Democrats.