Howard Chou runs for Chair of the Colorado Democratic Party

The Colorado Democratic Party will select their new chair on April 1, 2023. All party officer positions are up for elections every two years. Morgan Carroll will be stepping down as chair of the Colorado Democratic Party after leading the state party for six years.

Endorsed by dozens of elected officials and leaders across Colorado and nationally, Howard Chou has been a long-time community organizer and activist. To learn more about Chou and support his run for chair of the Colorado Democratic Party, visit howardforcolorado.com or connect with him on Facebook @howardforCDP.

and explore joint fundraising opportunities. This position also gives me a vote in negotiating DNC terms.

I have worked in messaging through market research for over 17 years including messaging on Barack Obama’s Hope and Change campaigns in 2008 and 2012 along with message testing in three other Presidential elections. I will bring that expertise and know-how and implement it throughout the state.

You talked about community work with organizations - share more about that.

Why are you running for chair of the CO Democratic Party?

As Vice Chair of the Colorado Democratic Party since 2018, I have worked tirelessly to help build the success that our party has accomplished in electing Democrats everywhere, giving us majorities in the State House, Senate and Statewide offices.

Those electoral successes have allowed CO Democrats in office to pass policies and laws to protect women’s reproductive health, fight climate change, provide more equity in all of our underserved communities and many other things to help lift people.

As an Asian immigrant who grew up in a low income, single parent home and experiencing things like hunger and trouble accessing healthcare, I realized the inequities in our system that needed impactful change. Within the Democratic Party, we can shape people’s lives by bringing our values to the capital and government through the champions we elect.

How are you qualified to be Chair?

I have been committed to service for a very long time being an elected volunteer at all levels of the Democratic Party including Precinct Committee Person (PCP), House District organizer, Chair and Founder of the AAPI initiative and Vice Chair of the Colorado Democrats.

Building communities and partnerships with organizations at the grassroots level to give Democrats a brand that will expand our base and bring in the identity of our values to the forefront.

I have a proven track record working alongside the current Chair Morgan Carroll. Together we have built an infrastructure that has led the party to historic wins in the last three election cycles.

I will bring national leadership to the Chair position as I am the elected Treasurer of the Association of State Democratic Committees (state party branch of the DNC) in which I oversee 57 states and territories budget and finance, determine best vendor and co-op programs

I am all about community building - it’s what I have been doing for a long time now working with people and organizations at the grassroots level. I have worked with organizations like Asian Pacific Development Center to help immigrants achieve citizenship, with ACLU to help Park Hill Youth and Students understand their rights, with NAACP to build bridges between Black and AAPI communities along with many others.

Building strong partnerships with these and many other local organizations will help the Democratic Party uplift our underserved communities everywhere across the state.

What would you bring to this role?

Reach out and engage more racial and ethnic communities all across the state through the community building I have already been doing. As Chair I will amplify the volume and reproduce these efforts into even more areas across the state.

Focus on issues impacting voters and target unaffiliated voters (there are 700,000 more unaffiliated voters than

Democrats) - whether they are worker’s rights voters, racial justice voters, or a litany of other progressive issue voters, we need to invest in those voters and define where the Democratic Party’s values stand in fighting for such issues.

Develop real messaging that resonates with people using my expertise in the subject matter. Colorado is a large and diverse state with a variety of cultural, geographic and industrial specific demographics and we will need custom messaging that people will better relate to.

Invest in better rural engagement which includes targeted messaging, media breakthroughs, and leadership from within.

What would it mean for you to be elected?

I would be the first Asian and first immigrant to ever serve as chair of Colorado. I would be proud and honored to serve in this regard and amplify the work that I have already been doing to the next level.

This would also define the importance and impact of grassroots work by em- powering more voices within our party that we elected a chair that has risen up in the same ways and same work that our countless volunteers have been doing all along.

What motivates you to fight so hard?

You know, my grandfather died fighting against communism before I was born and my grandmother had to flee from Shanghai to Taiwan by boat. Her boat was boarded so to avoid capture, she jumped into ocean waters.

She was rescued by the US Navy and brought to the US where she was detained under refugee status until she was granted asylum and eventually became a citizen. She worked for years sending money back home until she could sponsor two of my cousins’ family and my family over to the US in 1980.

I know what it’s like not to have the freedoms and liberties we have in the US. I know what it’s like not to have democracy. Their lives, their sacrifices are what drives me every single day. They inspire me to be better, to do more to defend our democracy.

HOWARD CHOU is a grassroots activist and organizer who works in the community to champion issues such as climate care, immigrant rights and racial justice.

He is the current 1st Vice Chair of the Colorado Democratic Party and the Chair of AAPI of Colorado Dems. Howard is a husband and father of two kids living in Douglas County.