The duties generally break down into two categories – the minimum required and what a good County Chair does above and beyond those.
The minimum duties prescribed by state party rules and the Texas Election Code are listed here. An entire essay could be written about each of these, but for brevity I’ll just list them:
- Call County Executive Committee meetings and preside over them
- Appoint party officers, committee chairs, and Precinct Chairs filling vacancies, and present them to the CEC for confirmation
- Submit lists of possible General Election judges and clerks for consideration for appointment by the County
- Accept filings for places on the Primary Election Ballot
- Oversee the Primary Election, including chairing the Primary Committee, managing funds, contracting with the County Elections Department, appointing election workers, conducting the drawing for the order of the names on the ballot, etc.
- Chair the County Convention
There are of course other minor duties, including signing contracts. But very little of this gets to the heart of what most people think a political party, and by extension a County Chair, should do – which is the political mission of electing Democrats. What a good County Chair does varies from county to county depending on the size of the county, how much money and volunteers they have, and whether or not they have staff. Here’s how I’ve approached the duties in Collin County:
- Being the public face of the party – speaking to media and at public events
- Working with other leaders in the party to set priorities, plan strategy, and oversee its execution
- Coordinating and managing the various efforts of the party. This includes attending as many committee meetings as possible.
- Recruiting competent and committed volunteers to lead key activities like fund raising, running the Coordinated Campaign, doing base expansion in off years, communications, recruiting candidates, training, community outreach, and the various other political activities of the party. It’s too much for any single person to do.
- Providing reinforcement and guidance to volunteers, and letting them know they are appreciated by party leadership
- Solicit major donors
- Set an example by being a sponsor and sustaining donor, and volunteering for events
- Resolving disputes and dealing with complaints – In any organization, particularly one with a very public face, these always come up.
I spend at least ten hours a week on all of this, average about twenty, and spend up to thirty during campaign season. Like most of my predecessors I also work a full time job.
What makes a person good at any of these things is a topic for another discussion. But I will say that a county political party is completely unlike any other organization, and there’s no substitute for actual experience in the party as a Precinct Chair, other officer, committee chair, Election Judge, or similar.