WHEREAS, the mission of the Independent Neighborhood Democrats (IND) includes bring[ing] the people of the 52nd Assembly District into active participation in the political process; engag[ing] with neighborhood organizations and groups to foster a greater civic and political voice for our community, translat[ing] civic activity into positive political activity, encourag[ing] enrollment in the Democratic Party, and elect[ing] Democratic candidates responsive to the needs of the community; and
WHEREAS, the 52nd Assembly District consistently has the highest rate of voter turnout in New York State; and
WHEREAS, Jay Jacobs is the Chair of the New York State Democratic Committee (the “State Party”); and
WHEREAS, per its rules, the State Party “aims to inspire and encourage the greatest number of Democrats to participate in the affairs of the Democratic Party of the State of New York, to insure [sic] the continuing success of the Democratic Party, and to provide the best possible responsible government for the people of the State of New York;” and
WHEREAS, per the State Party rules, the duties of Chair Jacobs include “act[ing] and be[ing] recognized as the top leader of the Democratic Party in New York State, and serv[ing] as the formal Chair of all state-wide campaigns and to challeng[ing] or expos[ing] the errors or inadequacies of any Republican officials of the State [of New York];” and
WHEREAS, Chair Jacobs is also the chair of the Nassau County Democratic Committee; and
WHEREAS, the IND, in 2021, called for the removal of Chair Jacobs from his position as Chair of the State Party due to his failure to allocate the necessary resources to: ensure the passage of Propositions 1, 3, and 4; to help senior Nassau and Suffolk County candidates leading to their defeat; and encouraging New Yorkers to complete their 2020 census forms, which led to the loss of a congressional seat; and
WHEREAS, “triple-prime” Democratic voter IND members – who primarily reside in the Assembly District that has the highest voter turnout in New York State – never received any mail from the State Party getting out the vote for the 2022 Democratic slate of candidates; and
WHEREAS, while the NYSDC’s actions belatedly made calls and sent text messages asking voters to return their absentee ballots weeks after voters had mailed their ballots, confusing voters and overwhelming representatives on the New York Democratic Lawyers Council (NYDLC) Voter Assistance Helpline which included IND members as volunteers; and
WHEREAS, calls received by the NYDLC Voter Assistance Hotline demonstrate that the State Party did not work with local county Democratic parties in New York City suburbs to assist in getting voters to the polls and didn’t answer their phones; and
WHEREAS, by virtue of his position as Chair of the Nassau County Democratic Committee, Chair Jacobs effectively appoints half of the staff of the Nassau County Board of Elections; and
WHEREAS, in Chair Jacobs’ home county of Nassau, three Democratic-held seats in the State Senate and two Democratic-held seats in the House of Representatives flipped to be Republican; and
WHEREAS, one of those candidates, George Santos, admitted that he was at the Ellipse on January 6, 2021, and “wrote a nice check” to provide legal aid to the insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol building where he will soon be working; and
WHEREAS, according to the latest enrollment data provided by the New York State Board of Elections (NYSBOE), in Nassau County, there are 387,531 active Democrats, compared to 296,763 active Republicans; and
WHEREAS, according to the same dataset provided by the NYSBOE, there are 6,021,708 active Democrats and 2,695,984 active Republicans; and
WHEREAS, IND believes that many close congressional races across New York State, including those of Robert Zimmerman, Laura Gillen, Sean Patrick Maloney, and Josh Reily, could have been won if the State Party dedicated the necessary resources to get out the vote efforts; and
WHEREAS, the Working Families Party seemed to have been the only party putting organizers in the field to support Democratic Party candidates; and
WHEREAS, the losses of Democratic candidates across New York State and in Nassau County are proof of failed leadership; and
WHEREAS, Chair Jacobs told City and State, “I’m not going to take responsibility for or blame, if you will, for losses that we had;” and
WHEREAS, being a leader requires one to look introspectively at both wins and losses to see what strategies and tactics worked well and which did not and to adjust course as necessary. Therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED that the Independent Neighborhood Democrats, due to the aforementioned reasons, have lost confidence in the leadership of Jay Jacobs as the Chair of the New York State Democratic Committee and call for his immediate resignation.