Jonathon Sweeney candidate statement

I am running for 3rd Vice Chair of the Greenville County Democratic Party for several reasons. One of them is that we have major work to do. I am capable, qualified, and have the track record to complete this work. In times like these, we need leaders that are not only willing but are capable and competent also. You will find that leadership in me.

A true leader does not sit idly by while times of crisis call for people with great ideas and servant hearts to step up. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said that “History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people”. This statement is relevant today. We are the good people. We are the ones with great ideas and servant hearts. We can’t afford to be silent while injustice occurs. This city, state, nor nation can stand for us, people that know what is right, to look the other way. We have a responsibility to act, speak out, and like one of my favorite congressmen John Lewis says, get in a little “good trouble”.

Another reason I’m running for this office is because it represents the 18-36 year old age group. This is a group of voters we can ill-afford to ignore. Every significant social movement in this country was powered by young people. We have the energy, fresh ideas, and the optimism required to reject the status quo. The desire for positive change is what characterizes the young adult movement.

You gauge what a person will do in the future by what they’ve done in the past. My track record consists of work as a Regional Field Organizer with the state party in 2012. I managed an eight-county district for an entire election cycle. I effectively coordinated phone banks and voter registration drives alongside the staff of 7th District Congressional Candidate Gloria Tinubu, to contact more than 50,000 voters. We mobilized fifteen volunteer teams over the span of the cycle to increase voter turnout on Election Day. Prior to that work, I was a Summer Organizer with President Obama’s organizing arm, OFA, as a volunteer in the summer of 2011.

In 2014, I was the first chair of the Appalachian Region of the Young Dems of South Carolina. I was tasked with getting Young Dem chapters chartered in Greenville, Spartanburg, Anderson, Oconee, and Pickens Counties. Upon establishing chapters in these counties, I was elected as president of the Young Dems of Greenville County. I worked with other passionate young people in this area to create a presence for young Democrats in the county.

As a Greenville native with meaningful connections in the community, I am poised to build upon the vital work that those before me have done. I am humbled by the opportunity to serve you in this capacity. I won’t disappoint you. Let’s go to work!


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