Manatee County Democrats Hold Gala

BY C.S. HOWARD

Attending the dinner were Rev. Dr. Willie Holley, Sandra Holley, Mildred Golden and Rev. James T. Golden.

The Manatee County Democrats – Manatee Matters – We Will Make a Difference held their annual dinner and auction on April 13th at The Grove in Lakewood Ranch. Keynote speaker at the dinner was Michael Blake, Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee. He told the audience that being silent is not an option.

“When I think about what we have to do, there is an indication that we will be silent no more,” he said. “Florida, there have been victories that we should be excited but there’s more that we need to do. When you flip seats in the house, we celebrate that; when you win 13 of 24 districts, we celebrate that. But there’s an indication that there’s more that needs to be done. We can no longer be a democratic party that only focuses on winning the White House”, he said. “Our level of success had been determined by if we have the presidency. But I look at success as to whether we have state houses, do we have county commissioners, someone on the city council and school boards,”

he said. Blake is serving a second term as a New York State Assembly Member representing the 79th District. He began his political career in the 2006 “Yes We Can” training program. He became President Obama’s 2008 Iowa Caucus Constituency vote director and later served as the Obama White House Associate Director of Public Engagement and Deputy Associate Director of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.

In 2012, he was National Deputy Operation Vote Director for President Obama. Blake sits on the board of the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance, is an Honorary National Co-Chair of the New Leaders Council and in 2016 became the first sitting elected official to serve as a fellow at the Harvard University Institute of Politics. Tracy Pratt is chairperson of Manatee County Democrats.