Indian American running for Democratic Party chair in Florida

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NEW YORK – Indian American Stacey Patel of Satellite Beach, Florida, is running to become the Florida Democratic Party chair.

According to Floridapolitics.com, Patel has been touring the state and has “a goal of raising $2,500 for our campaign, and identifying 250 pledges of monthly donations and 250 volunteer pledges.”

“So far our movement has swelled to nearly 1,400 members on Facebook, 118 campaign donors who’ve given over $6,000, 255 pledged monthly contributors who will give over $41,000 per year upon our election, and 252 pledged monthly volunteers who will work nearly 30,000 hours per year, or the equivalent of about $450,000 a year in labor,” Patel told Florida Today.

Her campaign is being called a grass-roots “This Is #OurParty” movement and she wants to encourage other Democrats to invest in the political process and win elections.

Florida Today stated that Patel’s objectives are: giving the party back to the people, which is funded by the people, rather than large corporations and spreading “the power of the few to the many by giving our grass-roots the training, tools, technology and transparency they need in order to understand and fully engage in the party.”

“Rules that have, for too long, consolidated the governing control of our party in the hands of a few must be surrendered to make way for true democracy. Those who feel real ownership of our party will also feel inspired to knock the doors and make the calls we will need to hold onto our seat in the Senate and take back the governor’s mansion,” Patel told Florida Today.

“Let’s build a party that is funded by the people and is really for the people. It’s also time to wrestle ourselves free of the massive overhead of consulting firms who profit from both parties and benefit financially whether we win or lose,” she added.

According to Medium.com, Patel is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon’s Heinz School of Public Policy and has over 20 years of diverse professional experience in organizational transformation, social media fundraising, project management, small business ownership, non-profit leadership, and performing arts administration.

Patel’s opponents include Hillsborough County lawyer Alma Gonzalez, Palm Beach County activist Terrie Rizzo and state president of the Service Employees International Union Monica Russo.

The election for Florida Democratic Party chair is scheduled for Dec. 9 at the Rosen Centre Hotel in Orlando.