Published: June 12, 2008 01:52 pm      

Democrats vote Ravjani to convention

A larger than normal Texas Democratic Convention with approximately 12,000 in attendance at the Austin Convention Center this past weekend continued the excitement which produced a record turnout at the Democratic primary and precinct and county conventions earlier in the spring. Approximately half of the delegates at the state convention were attending their first state convention.

Delegates and alternates from Cooke County who attended included Yvonne Ambrose, Ava Bayless, Carole Clausing, Stella DiPasqua, Pat Gray, Nathan Hansard, Dave Howard, Jane Kohler, Bill and Pat Ledbetter, Frank Lorne, Ron Melugin, Abbas Ravjani, Keisha Wilkinson and Dewey and Dean Yeager. Congressional candidate Ken Leach and his mother Juanita Leach were floor guests at the convention.

For the second consecutive time Cooke County won a delegate to send a delegate to the Democratic National Convention. Abbas Ravjani of Gainesville defeated 9 other candidates from the State Senate District No. 30 caucus to attend the convention in Denver as a delegate of Barack Obama. This is quite an accomplishment — according to local delegates — since Wichita, Grayson and Denton counties have such a large delegation in our district. Ravjani has worked in the Obama national campaign. He is a former valedictorian of Lindsay High School and former student body president of Austin College. He will begin his final year in Yale Law School this fall.

Kirk Watson, state senator and former mayor of Austin, presided over the convention. At the first general session, Governor Tim Keine of Virginia, an early Obama supporter, pointed out the similarities of Virginia and Texas; how they had been “red” states but were in the process of turning “blue.”

Speaker Chelsea Clinton got a reception similar to a rock star. She thanked those who had worked so hard in her mother’s campaign and predicted her mother would continue to campaign hard to get Obama into the White House because they have so much in common on the critical issues.

Boyd Richie, attorney from Graham, was re-elected state party chair with the unanimous support of the Cooke County delegation. Bob Slagle of Sherman, former state party chair was also re-elected to the National Democratic Committee. Since Richie’s home is (in) the thirtieth State Senate District, Cooke County and the rest of the district got preferential seating in front of the convention hall.

The Cooke County Democratic Club will meet today, June 12, at 7 p.m. at the Gainesville Chamber of Commerce. Ron Melugin, county chair and Bill Ledbetter, Cooke County delegation chair to the state convention, will share their experience along with others who attended last week’s state convention. The public is welcome.