ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
Many government entities will be seeing new leadership in the near future, and that includes the Kansas Democratic Party.
The KDP recently announced Matthew Brown will be the new executive director and as Brown tells it, he is no stranger to the work.
“I’ve worked on a number of large-scale campaigns on the management side of things. I worked on some legislative races in Alabama, including a special election legislative race we were able to flip because we were running on women’s reproductive healthcare and similar issues,” Brown said. “That followed almost in the footsteps of what had been done in Kansas. From there, I went to work for that state’s party as the finance director, where we were able to really able to improve the amount of money we invested in races. I’m really excited now to be taking on this next step working in Kansas.”
Brown said recent happenings on the political spectrum in Kansas sparked his interest in working in the state.
“I’m always looking for new opportunities that could be big and exciting, and since I’ve been paying attention to what’s been happening in Kansas the past few years, it’s really clear the Democratic Party there has a lot of momentum and there are a lot of great people working there, including an exceptional party chair and legislative caucuses and Gov. Kelly and Congresswoman Sharice Davids,” Brown said. “There’s clearly a lot of great things going on in Kansas, so when I saw this job opportunity, I applied for it and thought it could really be a dream job and something I could do really well based on my past experience. Kansas also has a unique opportunity in terms of really competing in those legislative races – a lot of states have maybe one or two particularly competitive districts, but Kansas has a lot of opportunities with strong candidates that should give the people multiple great choices, which I think is awesome.”
Brown added he has multiple goals for his tenure in his new role.
“A big goal is fundraising. Campaigns are not inexpensive to run, and it takes time and those resources to be able to really reach out to voters, so I want to get to work helping raise money and expand those revenue streams and put the state party in a good position to help make big investments in key races,” Brown said. “Beyond that, I also think we need to continue supporting our precinct captains and growing the county parties, which would really help us engage with voters all throughout the state. During my time with the party in Alabama, I had the opportunity to really learn from the leaders there and get involved with that leadership and support the county parties all throughout the state. Supporting those efforts in Kansas would be really beneficial and I think it should be another priority. I also want the state party to be in a good enough place to help coordinate with all the incredible stakeholders we have and bring people together and make sure they have a seat at the table.”
Brown said he would like to expand the party’s outreach throughout the state.
“We really need to grow the county parts and congressional district parties and to help with that, the precinct captains are the first line to help reach people. They’re the folks who are there on the ground year-round and connecting with voters there in their communities and sharing all the necessary information,” Brown said. “I want to see that infrastructure grow and see us plug in and recruit people to those positions and expand those efforts. And then once we find those people, we need to be sure we’re supporting them and finding ways to make sure they have the resources they need. Finding those people on the ground and helping support those more grassroots efforts will really help make a difference. And when it comes to candidate recruitment, one of the first things a state party should be doing is getting everyone on the same page and organized. There are county chairs who are recruiting, legislators who are recruiting and other stakeholders who are recruiting, so it’s really important for the party to be that vehicle for communication so everyone’s one the same page and so we can cover as much ground as possible. I also think we need to get creative with recruitment and think about how we could turn someone into a viable candidate and support their efforts. We also have multiple ways for people to contact us and talk to us about running for office or volunteering or being precinct captains, so we have to think things through from the perspective of the people we’re trying to reach out to.”
Having experience in the political realm in another state will help his work in Kansas, Brown said.
“There are definitely differences between working with a state party and working on a campaign, but I think my experience will be really helpful particularly with the fundraising efforts I mentioned earlier,” Brown said. “When I was in Alabama, I also took a lead with candidate recruitment, which was also really rewarding, and that experience of going throughout the state and talking to people about the issues and learning who we could reach out to and work with, that’s exactly the work state parties should do. Building those types of relationships is something that should really help me as I work with the Kansas Democratic Party.”
Brown also offered encouragement for constituents to contact the party with questions and concerns.
“The Kansas Democratic Party has a great Web site, kansasdems.org, and that is a great place to start because there’s a lot of contact information there and ways for people to get in touch with us,” Brown said. “We more than welcome those one-on-one conversations with people, whether it’s about running for office or getting involved with the party in some other capacity. We also have a great social media presence, and people can contact us through that and again, we’re more than happy to have those conversations with people.”
Overall, Brown said, he is excited for his new role.
“I think Kansas has an incredible opportunity ahead of it, and I’m really looking forward to getting there on the ground and start working with everyone and listen to people’s questions and concerns so we can help them,” Brown said. “We have a huge opportunity ahead of us, and if we’re all working on the same page, we can make some great gains and have better representation than what’s been seen in the past.”
