NC Democratic Party ousts entire leadership in a major shake-up

In its biannual party leadership elections held February 11, the State Executive Committee of the North Carolina Democratic Party ousted its entire leadership bench. The incumbent party chair, former state legislator Bobbie Richardson, 73, was defeated by insurgent candidate Anderson Clayton, 25, previously chair of the Person County Democratic Party (which lies north of Durham along the Virginia border).

Richardson had been endorsed early and loudly by virtually every major elected Democrat in the state, including Gov. Roy Cooper, Attorney General Josh Stein and all seven Democratic members of Congress. She was widely seen as the pick of the state party establishment. Nevertheless, Richardson lost to Clayton on the second ballot by a margin of about 10 percent in a heavilyattended meeting.

Besides Clayton, a “changed slate” of candidates were also elected: Jonah Garson as First Vice Chair, Dr. Kim Hardy as Second Vice Chair, Elijah King as Third Vice Chair, and Melvin Williams as Secretary.

North Carolina Democrats have struggled badly to win elections since 2010’s Republican wave brought the GOP to power in the state. Democrats have

NC Minor League Baseball Player Anderson Comas comes out

Although scant attention was paid to the announcement by American press, the UK LGBTQ website Gay Times recently reported a story about a team member of the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers, a White Sox-owned Single A Team player who recently announced he’s gay.

“This may be my most personal thing I ever share, and it’s that I’m proudly and happily part of the LGBTQ+ community,” Anderson Comas posted to his Instagram account on February 19.

The Kannapolis Cannon Ballers are owned by the Chicago White Sox and identified as a Single A Team, which is more or less a try out team or training ground for young and new baseball players to get their feet wet.

While Comas, 23, is clearly excited to share his revelation, he began it with a note of caution: “If you’re homophobic, this post may not [be] for you, or maybe yes, so you can see we all matter and we are all the same.

“I’m human with a great soul. I’m respectful. I’m a lover. I love my family and friends and that’s what really matters,” he continued. “I enjoy my work a lot, being a professional baseball player is the best thing that [has] happened to me, so I just want to say something to those people that say gay people cannot be someone in this life. Look at me. I’m gay and I’m a professional athlete. That didn’t stop me [from making] my dreams come true. I’m doing this because I wanna’ be an inspiration for those like me out there fighting for their dreams. Please don’t listen to the stupid things that people say about us. Fight for your dreams, believe in yourself and go for it.”

Originally from Santa Domingo in the