The chairman of the Tennessee Democratic Party talked about making the party more competitive at a recent fundraiser for the Giles County Democratic Party.
Hendrell Remus recently became the first Black man or woman to be elected party chairman in Tennessee history, according to information from the state Democratic Party.
He has served as an ex-officio member of the Tennessee Democratic Party Executive Committee and as National Committeeman for the Tennessee Young Democrats.
Stacey Abrams helped rebuild the state Democratic Party in Georgia, which led to the election of two U.S. Senators, Raphael Warmock and Jon Ossoff and helped Joe Biden win the presidential election.
That was clearly something Remus would like to see happen in Tennessee where Democrats carried a handful of counties in the 2020 election.
Remus is focused on building a stronger Democratic party infrastructure, registering more voters and electing more Democrats.
Based on his bio, Remus has a deep commitment to Democratic values to help rebuild a state structure.
He has worked on several Tennessee campaigns, from serving as a strategic advisor to mayoral and state house candidates to assisting local school board, city council and county commission races.
He shows some of the same volunteerism that led him into politics during the 2008 campaign of former president Barack Obama.
One goal of the state party is to set up phone banks of volunteers in counties, he said, who can be activated by calls from state headquarters.
The state also may pick up the bill for informal activities in counties such as coffee and donuts, he said.
Volunteers can be activists who are interested in promoting the democratic party, he said,
“We have to depend on you,” Remus said, referring to several of the approximately 25 who attended the fundraiser at the Giles Agri-Park.
“We hope that we can turn this around. The party is made up of all different kinds of Democrats.”
Remus also apologized on behalf of the state Democratic Party to those attending and said one goal was to make the Democratic Party more competitive.
Giles County Democrats have the potential to rebuild their voting base. according to figures presented by Tom Gattis, Giles County Democratic Party Chairman and Max Trotter, a Giles County Election Commissioner.
The county population based on the 2020 census was 30,346 with 6,311 persons under age 18 and 24,035 voting age persons per the 2020 Census.
There were 19,215 registered voters and 466 inactive voters according to the Giles County Election Commission.
There were 10,746 new voters in the county, based on the 2020 census,
In the 2020 census, 9.874 voted for former president Donald Trump, 3,298 for president Biden, with Democrats capturing 24.8 percent of the 13,289 votes in the county, according to Giles County Election Commission figures.
Lemmie Nelson coordinated the fundraiser and Hardin Franklin gave the invocation.
Prior to becoming Chairman of the state Democratic Party, Remus worked as the Assistant Director of Emergency Management at Tennessee State University. Before that he served as Middle Tennessee Operations Manager for Allied Universal.
The Memphis, Tenn. native is a graduate of Excelsior College and lives in Nashville with his wife Marlene and their two children.