In recent years there have been some noticeable changes in San Diego and things aren’t slowing down. The San Diego Democratic Central Committee (DCC) has been at the helm of great change in the County. This 60 member DCC with Chair Jess Durfee has made a splash and their impressive organized efforts have led the way for historic opportunities for Democrats in San Diego.

Jess Durfee, a former high school teacher, became Chair of the San Diego DCC in 2004 and since then, he and Central Committee members have revitalized the San Diego DCC. As Jess explains, “in the 70s and 80s the San Diego DCC was very strong, and then it went into a lull for a very long time. Then, starting in 2005 we started to become better organized, which allowed us to reach more people, which in turn brought the San Diego DCC back to life.

The GO Team, a precinct leader program, is one such program that allowed the San Diego DCC to reach far and wide. The program has been one of the drivers for increasing Democratic voter turn out in San Diego in recent years and has become a model for others to learn from. “The Go Team system is designed so that we have a county coordinator, regional coordinator, community coordinators and volunteers. All reporting up and working together to make sure the right voters are targeted. The GO team hits the pavement when vote-by-mail ballots drop, then they return to talk to vote-by-mail voters who have yet to turn in their ballots, and finally they come out on Election Day to talk to Election Day voters. Their faces end up becoming familiar to folks in that precinct. In areas where there is a GO team presence there is up to a 14% increase in Democratic voter turnout,” said Jess Durfee.

With a stronger and better San Diego DCC and Election Day not too far away, Jess and his members have some big plans for Battleground California.  Jess describes, “Well we are very focused on supporting Scott Peters in CD 52 and making sure we retire Brian Bilbray.  In the city of San Diego we have an opportunity, for the first time in 3 decades, to elect a Democratic Mayor. And we are focused on effectively utilizing our GO team in order to better educate voters and get out the vote.”

With that kind of enthusiasm and organization we are ecstatic to have the San Diego DCC on our side.

To learn how you can get involved with your DCC visit www.battlegroundcalifornia.com