The annual convention was held on September 13 in Springfield. 2025 was a platform convention, where attendees vote on a new state platform for the next 4 years. A platform committee crafted a 2025 Party Platform draft.
Most attendees were not pleased with the drafted version, feeling that too many important articles were left out. Delegates voted to stick with the 2021 People’s Platform.
A Messy MassDems Convention from Politico.com will give you an idea of the drama.
Report on the Convention from Mendy, MDTC Vice Chair
I was one of the Medway delegates to the Democratic State Convention on September 13th in Springfield. As usual, it was a day full of networking, learning, and excitement.
Festivities actually began the night before with a welcome party, where delegates were seen taking selfies with some of our favorite lawmakers and changemakers. Then, on Saturday, prior to the start of the convention, there were several breakfasts where attendees could chat with Dems from all around Massachusetts and hear from speakers such as Senator Ed Markey. These were followed by 2 workshop options where we could learn strategies for better campaigning. Throughout the day, there were tables set up for us to talk to representatives from campaigns and organizations of interest to the Dems around our Commonwealth.
Chair Steve Kerrigan called the Convention to order at around 10am. We spent the next several hours hearing from local, state, and national Democratic leaders and organizers who shared both what they are doing and what we can and should be doing to stop the national slide into authoritarianism while also advancing equity, justice, and progress. We even heard from a New Jersey gubernatorial candidate and someone from the Maine Democratic Committee.
The most noteworthy part of the 2025 convention was our vote on the state party platform, which we update every 4 years. The platform committee of the Democratic State Committee presented delegates with a draft of the proposed platform prior to the convention. This draft was written after receiving oral and written testimony from the public over the summer. Several amendments to the proposed platform were presented through a process that included obtaining 500 delegate signatures before the start of the convention. The most consequential amendment was one that replaced the text of the proposed 2025 platform with the text of the 2021 platform.
While, I believe nearly everyone was happy to see new additions to the platform this year in the areas of science, AI, and housing; the majority of delegates were disappointed that the proposed platform was much less strong in its explicit support of issues including reproductive rights, transgender acceptance, LGBTQ+ rights in general, women’s rights, worker’s rights, voter’s rights, disability rights, discrimination, and immigration. It was not that these were completely absent, but there was fierce opposition to being less emphatic in our support during a time when these issues are under constant attack.
After a great deal of procedural confusion, and a period of passionate debate, delegates overwhelmingly voted against the platform proposed by the state committee and strongly in favor of continuing with the 2021 platform in order to unequivocally express our commitment to the aforementioned issues. .
In my opinion, one thing that gets in our way as Democrats is that we don’t always agree on our exact direction. We tend to see several different ways to attack the same problem and a thousand different ways to order our priorities. Honestly, though, I also see that as one of our greatest strengths. We disagree because our tent holds so many different types of people with so many different lived experiences, and we consider so many different pieces of our societal machine at the same time. We don’t focus on conformity, uniformity, and tradition. We know that things can always get better. And we are never complacent. At the end of the day, despite our disagreements, Dems can unite around the idea that we are all equal and deserving of rights and justice, and that progress is worth fighting for.