Democratic Party Engages Ethnic Leaders, among them Polish-Americans, in Targeted States Before Midterms

“It was an honor to meet so many great leaders who are working to ensure that we elect Democrats up and down the ticket this November. The NDECC is incredibly important in our work to reach out to ethnic communities. The Democratic Party will continue meeting with and engaging leaders across the country, working with the NDECC to keep building on this strong long-term partnership,” said Amy Dacey, CEO of the Democratic National Committee.

The Philadelphia meeting was hosted by Rep. Robert Brady at the Philadelphia Democratic Party Headquarters and organized by NDECC member Marwan Kreidie, who is a leader in the Lebanese-American community in the Philly area. It was attended by several elected officials and campaign representatives, including long-time NDECC members and Pennsylvania State Democratic Treasurer Jack Hanna (Arab-American), City Councilman James F. Kenney (Irish-American), former City Councilman Joe Vignola (Italian-American), and senior representatives of the Tom Wolf for Governor and Mike Stack for Lt. Governor campaigns, as well as several dozen other prominent Democratic ethnic leaders from around the area.

Polish American leaders at the Chicago NDECC roundtable held in early September. From right to left: Bogdan Putzka, the Executive Director of the Polish American Chamber of Commerce, Tom Pikarski, former President of the National Advocates Society, Jan Strazalka, former President of the Chicago Advocates Society,Amy Dacey, Maureen Pikarski, co-organizer of the event and the NDECC Women’s Committee Chair, and Conrad Nowak, Chairman of the Board of the Polish American Association.

Attendees represented a diversity of European and Middle Eastern heritages, and included Albanian-Americans, Arab-Americans, Armenian-Americans, Assyrian-Americans, Croatian-Americans, German-Americans, Greek-Americans, Hungarian-Americans, Irish-Americans, Lithuanian-Americans, Macedonian-Americans, Polish-Americans, Serbian-Americans, Sikhs, Slovenian-Americans, Slovak-Americans, Turkish-Americans and Ukrainian-Americans. They discussed the importance of mobilizing ethnic voters and how the large ethnic communities in the Philadelphia area can make a tremendous impact on the upcoming election, as well as in 2016 and beyond.

Jim Zogby, co-founder of the NDECC said “Pennsylvania’s ethnic vote is so important to securing Democratic victories. Across this state dozens of European and Middle Eastern ethnic communities have settled, made their home, and helped to build the Democratic Party. Amy and the Democratic Party are committed to securing our ties with these communities and I’m hopeful of the progress we will make in the coming years."

The Democratic Party will continue building on the strong relationship with ethnic communities, and giving leaders the necessary information and tools to register people to vote. To expand the electorate, the DNC has programs in place to make sure people know when, where and how to vote, as well as what they need to bring with them to the polls.

"It was energizing to hear from Amy Dacey, Jim Zogby, Congressman Brady and other Democratic Party leaders, and to engage in a real dialogue with them on important issues. Now it is our responsibility to remind our communities that the Democratic Party shares our values. We’re democrats because we believe in investing in the American dream - we’re the ones who fight for small businesses, for access to health care, for affordable higher education, and for equality and justice. These are the strong values that make America the most desirable country in the world to live in and why our families are here today,” stated Ulana Mazurkevich, a Philadelphia business owner and Ukrainian-American activist.

This November there is a lot at stake - Democrats will continue fighting to grow the middle class and expand access to the ballot box as well as fight to raise the minimum wage, make college more affordable for our children and to ensure equal pay for women. In November ethnic voters will face a clear choice between Democrats committee to expanding opportunities for all, and Republicans who are only interested in helping a select few.