Latest news with #JeannaRepass
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Leader of WA Democrats wins leadership post with national party
Shasti Conrad, chair of the Washington state Democratic Party, won a leadership post with the Democratic National Committee on June 20, 2025. (Photo courtesy of Washington state Democratic Party) Washington state Democratic Party chair Shasti Conrad won a coveted leadership post with the Democratic National Committee on Friday. Conrad was elected DNC vice chair, giving her a voice in crafting the party's strategy for responding to the Trump administration and recapturing control of Congress in 2026. She beat Kalyn Free, a national committee member from Oklahoma, in a run-off after neither garnered a majority in a first round of balloting earlier this week. That initial round featured a third candidate, Jeanna Repass, chair of the Kansas Democratic Party. Conrad, 40, said in a statement that she was 'deeply grateful' for the result, which came after six days of voting. 'This was the longest election in DNC history, and every vote cast reflected our shared belief in building a stronger, more inclusive Democratic Party,' she said. The party is looking to bounce back after a disastrous 2024 cycle. Conrad has argued that Democrats don't need to drastically change their message or positions and instead must improve how they communicate with voters. She has also argued that the platform that has brought Democrats success in Washington, where the party controls all statewide elected offices and the Legislature, can be replicated to rack up victories elsewhere. 'We are not just strategizing to win elections. We are working to transform lives,' Conrad said before results came out. The DNC chose two vice chairs over the past two weeks in a do-over of Feb. 1 elections that were won by Malcolm Kenyatta and David Hogg. Those contests were invalidated after Free filed a complaint contending the party failed to follow its own rules on gender parity in officer elections. DNC members agreed to rerun elections for those seats. Only candidates who made it to the final round of voting in February and were eligible for each seat under party rules, could compete. Hogg, a 25-year-old gun-control activist, declined to run for his seat. He faced criticism from fellow Democrats because of his plans to fund challenges to Democratic incumbents with his group, Leaders We Deserve. Hogg's exit left Kenyatta, a Pennsylvania state representative, as the only eligible candidate in the election for the vice chair position that had to be filled by a male under the DNC rules. Kenyatta was elected Saturday. Conrad, 40, is in her second term as leader of Washington's Democratic Party and is the first South Asian woman to lead a state party. She had the backing of DNC Chair Ken Martin, who appointed her in March to be an associate chair for the national party. In this role, she said she's strived to spotlight issues of importance to Asian Americans and to work with influencers on ways to better engage younger voters. 'As a millennial, I'm committed to creating more opportunities for young people to get involved and become the leaders of today—not just tomorrow,' she said. She added that she'd ensure Asian American and Pacific Islanders 'have a seat at every table where decisions are made.'
Fox News
14 hours ago
- Politics
- Fox News
DNC elects vice chair to replace David Hogg as Democrat Party rift rages on
Shasti Conrad, Washington State Democratic Party Chair, was elected vice chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) on Friday, ending the months-long David Hogg controversy in which the 25-year-old progressive bowed out from party leadership. The second voting period for the DNC's "any gender" vice chair election ended Friday night as Free OR Conrad picked up the majority of votes cast by DNC members. Earlier in the week, candidates failed to secure a majority and Jeanna Repass was eliminated during the first round of voting. Hogg announced his exit from DNC leadership after members voted last week to uphold the Credentials Committee's resolution proposed by Kalyn Free to host a re-election for two vice-chair positions, which Hogg and DNC vice chair Malcolm Kenyatta won during the Feb. 1 party elections. Kenyatta told Fox News Digital after Hogg's exit that the re-election drama has prevented the DNC from being "singularly focused." "We've spent a lot of time talking about procedural nonsense within the DNC. I promise you nobody cares about that, and nobody wants to talk about it as little as I do. I want us to get refocused," Kenyatta said. Hogg agreed, writing in a lengthy X statement that he was stepping down from the DNC, "so the party can focus on what really matters." But Hogg ignited internal Democratic Party divisions this year through his $20 million plan to primary challenge vulnerable incumbent Democrats he said were "asleep at the wheel." The plan, through his outside political action group, Leaders We Deserve, exposed an apparent rift with DNC Chair Ken Martin, who gave Hogg the ultimatum to either forego his political influence through his PAC or give up his DNC leadership position. And the young progressive's departure did little to stall headlines about the Democratic Party's disarray, as this week DNC officials criticized Martin's leadership and The New York Times reported officials had considered borrowing money to pay the bills this year. Earlier this week, The New York Times also first reported that two top union leaders had departed the DNC. Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, and Lee Saunders, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, declined offers to stay on as at-large members of the DNC. "I appear to be out of step with the leadership you are forging, and I do not want to be the one who keeps questioning why we are not enlarging our tent and actively trying to engage more and more of our communities," Weingarten, the education leader and longtime voice in Democratic politics, said in a letter Martin that is now circulating on social media. Hogg's decision to leave the DNC followed a damning Politico report, which included leaked audio from a Zoom meeting of Martin lamenting over Hogg's fallout at the DNC, claiming it had made it harder for Democrats to do their jobs and for Martin to demonstrate his ability to lead. "I don't think you intended this, but you essentially destroyed any chance I have to show the leadership that I need to. So, it's really frustrating," Martin said. Free submitted her complaint following the DNC's Feb. 1 officer elections, in which Hogg and Kenyatta were elected vice chairs. She claimed the DNC's tabulation method violated the charter's provision and parliamentary procedure and "discriminated against three women of color candidates." "This was never about Malcolm Kenyatta or David Hogg," Free told Fox News Digital after the Credentials Committee elevated her complaint before the full DNC. "For me, this was about ensuring that the Democratic Party lives up to our ideals as the only political party to believe in and stand up for election integrity and a free and fair democracy." The Democratic Party maintained that the vice-chair re-election had nothing to do with the primary controversy Hogg stirred up earlier this year, but Hogg slammed the vote as a "fast-track" effort to remove him from party leadership.
Yahoo
02-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Democratic Party challenges in Kansas; state of the economy
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas Democrats descended on Topeka on the last weekend of the month for their traditional Washington Day festivities. It's the annual state party convention as it assesses where it stands and plans for the year ahead. Kansas Democrat Party Chairwoman Jeanna Repass joins us to share the challenges of being a Democrat in a heavily Republican state, and her plans to close the gap in the Sunflower State. Read more Politics stories from FOX4 Then, Kansas native and Bankrate Washington D.C. Bureau Chief Mark Hamrick joins us to discuss the state of the economy in uncertain times. What impact will tariffs have on inflation? What next for The Federal Reserve? What should we be doing to be prepared? All of these topics in this new edition of '4 The People.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Kansas officials express ‘great sorrow' after deadly DC plane crash that took off from Wichita
Emergency response units search the crash site of the American Airlines plane on the Potomac River after the plane crashed on approach to Reagan National Airport on Jan. 30, 2025, in Washington, D.C. The American Airlines flight from Wichita, Kansas collided in midair with a military helicopter while approaching the airport. () TOPEKA — Kansas public officials offered condolences Thursday for the nearly 70 people killed in a collision between a passenger jet from Wichita and a military helicopter near Washington, and at least one state lawmaker denounced those who have politicized the tragedy. Kansas' congressional delegation together issued a somber statement Thursday saying it was likely many of them directly or indirectly know people on American Airlines Flight 5342, which departed from Wichita's Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport around 5:20 p.m. Wednesday. 'This is a sad day for Kansans and our nation, and this community, steeped in aviation and manufacturing history, will feel the pain of this catastrophe for years to come,' the statement said. Wichita is known as the 'air capital of the world' because of its reputation as a hub of aircraft manufacturing for a century, and it's home to more than nearly 500 companies in the aerospace manufacturing field. The passenger jet and the Army Black Hawk helicopter crashed in midair as the jet was attempting to land around 8:45 p.m. ET at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Virginia. The remnants of the aircraft were found bobbing in the water of the Potomac River, and officials have said all involved are presumed dead. First responders shifted early Thursday morning from a search and rescue mission to recovery as windy, cold and dark conditions proved difficult. Senate President Ty Masterson, a Republican from the Wichita suburb of Andover, said Thursday morning 'our hearts are filled with great sorrow as we try to fathom the unfathomable. ' Jeanna Repass, the chairwoman of the Kansas Democratic Party, landed at Reagan National Airport traveling from Wichita hours before the crash, she said in a Thursday post to Facebook. 'Moments of tragedy have a way of reminding us (of) our shared humanity and human experiences of love and loss, and joy and pain, and grief,' she wrote. Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, who issued a statement within hours of the crash Wednesday indicating her communication with authorities, said Thursday she has been in 'constant communication with federal, state and local officials.' 'I am deeply saddened by the tragic loss of lives last night and extend my deepest condolences to the victims' families and loved ones,' she said in a statement. She ordered flags throughout Kansas be lowered to half-staff until sundown Feb. 6. The Federal Aviation Administration issued a preliminary report shortly after the incident, as is customary practice for aviation-related accidents. The National Transportation Safety Board, the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Army have all launched investigations. Pete Hegseth, the newly confirmed U.S. secretary of defense, said in a social media post that the Army helicopter was participating in a training flight from Fort Belvoir in Virginia. In a press briefing from the White House, President Donald Trump expressed condolences and then blamed the Biden Administration's diversity, equity and inclusion policies – without citing evidence – for the crash. He also said the helicopter pilot should have seen the jet and moved out of the way. Rep. Alexis Simmons, a Topeka Democrat, said in a Facebook post Thursday morning condemning those online who have politicized the incident or joked about disliking Wichita. 'Neither of these are appropriate, to say the very least. This is particularly true for people who do not live in Wichita, and never have,' Simmons said. 'This is a tragic, violent loss of life that took dozens of family members, friends, brothers, sisters, coaches, neighbors, colleagues, and more.' The Wichita flight carried competitive figure skaters, their coaches and family members from the U.S. and Russia who were in Kansas for the U.S. Figure Skating Championships and a training camp held in conjunction, according to a statement from U.S. Figure Skating. American Airlines has requested anyone who believes they had a loved one on board to call 800-679-8215.
