About Democratic Party of Evanston

Since the 1970s, the Democratic Party of Evanston has been organizing Evanstonians to get Democratic candidates elected. We get out the vote for every race from municipal offices all the way up to the United States Presidency. We knock on doors right here in Evanston and all over the Midwest, and we regularly reach out to voters all over the country for races at every level through our daily phonebanks. Through the hard work of our members and volunteers, we get Democrats elected.

OUR MISSION

The Democratic Party of Evanston is accountable to Democrats residing within the attendance areas of School Districts 65 and 202. Our purpose is to amplify the voices of those Democrats; elect progressive Democrats to local, state, and federal offices; and to promote progressive ideals and elected officials.

WHO ARE WE?

DPOE is made up of dues-paying members and volunteers. The organization is governed by a set of bylaws, an elected committeeman, a board of directors, and our membership. The committeeman and board of directors, being responsible to the membership, oversees the activities and programs of the organization.

2022-2023 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

COMMITTEEPERSON

Committeeman: Eamon Kelly
Deputy Committeeman: Christian Sorensen

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

President: Rachel O’Konis Ruttenberg
Vice President: Greg Andrus
Secretary: Doug Nickels
Treasurer: Dan Jordan

COMMITTEE CHAIRS

Executive Committee: Rachel Ruttenberg

Nominations Committee: Rachel Ruttenberg

Finance and Development Committee: Betsy Soete

Membership Committee:  Doug Nickles & Barb Cornew

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Clare Kelly
Stephanie Mendoza
Darlene Murray-Cannon
Doug Nickels
Greg Andrus
Barb Cornew
Dan Jordan
Kevin Brown
Sebastian Nalls
Tom Oser
Gennifer Greer
Kathy Hayes
Rachel Ruttenberg

COMMITTEES

Our committees are the backbone of what we do. No matter what your skill set, interest or availability, we have a spot for you. Check our calendar and Facebook page for meeting dates and feel free to reach out to committee leaders with your ideas, questions and suggestions. We’d love to have you join us! Contact us / Info@EvanstonDems.com

MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE

Our committee works to build a thriving, active member base of committed Evanston Democratic residents who will help inform and guide the next evolution of the Democratic party.

Chair: Barb Cornew
Doug Nickels
Neal Weingarden

FINANCE & DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

The Finance and Development Committee raises funds to power the DPOE’s political work, including the Midwest Alliance of Progressives

Chair: Betsy Soete
Rachel O’Konis Ruttenberg
Sue Calder
Michelle Jordan

NOMINATIONS COMMITTEE

The Nominations Committee recruits new members for Board of Directors and Committee positions.

Chair: Rachel O’Konis Ruttenberg
Greg Andrus
Barb Cornew
Darlene Murry-Cannon
Neal Weingarden

CLIMATE ACTION TEAM

With 35 consecutive years of membership in Arbor Day Association’s “Tree City USA”, its not a secret Evanston takes pride in protecting the environment. The Climate Action Team was launched out of our Big Ideas Event in 2017. It is dedicated to raising awareness around the environmental issues of our time and encouraging immediate environmental action on the local level.

Chair: Bob Heuer

BECOME A MEMBER OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF EVANSTON

2020 was a year that will go down in history. We HAD to defeat Donald Trump, take back the Senate and hold the House.  Then COVID-19 hit. The game-plan we used to win the House in 2018 and special elections in 2019 was gone. We were not going to be able to knock on doors like we needed to. So we reorganized and doubled down with phone banking. Running hundreds of hours of calls all across battleground states. Our team of volunteers kicked butt and it shows. We held the House, we took back the Senate and we defeated Donald Trump. But none of this would have happened if we hadn’t been training volunteers, running Schakowsky School and building the support infrastructure to make it happen.

Join today, renew your membership or make a donation to fuel our efforts.

As with many volunteer run non-for-profits our funding is a constantly moving target. Please contact the Finance and Development Committee if you can help!