Tonight's DSC Meeting: Johnston Steps Down

Pardon the brief interlude from interview week, but I just got back from the Democratic State Committee meeting tonight in Newton, where I sat in the peanut gallery with Susan of Beyond 495 and Andy of Mass Revolution Now. Two notable things happened tonight. The most important was that State Democratic Party Chairman Phil Johnston announced that he is stepping down from that post within the next thirty days. This announcement had been rumored for the past month or so, but tonight he made it official. Johnston has served the state Democrats for the past six years and oversaw not only last November's successful gubernatorial election, but the percentage of Democrats in the Legislature increased over his tenure. While I did not always agree with his actions, I have a lot of respect for Chairman Johnston and I appreciate his service to the party.

The other important event was that former Deval Patrick campaign manager John Walsh was unanimously elected to Deputy Treasurer of the Democratic State Committee. As such, he becomes an instant member of the DSC, which paves the way for him to replace Johnston as party chair next month. As I understand it, Walsh will not face any opposition in that election. Congratulations to him, and I hope he brings to the state party the sense of the importance of the grassroots that carried Patrick to victory.