Organization
The Venice Area Democratic Club is Chartered by the Florida Democratic Party with the approval of the Sarasota County Democratic Executive Committee
Our Mission
• Stimulate active interest in political and governmental affairs
• Strengthen and further the ideals and principles of the Democratic Party
• Provide ongoing support to the Sarasota County Democratic Party
• Promote participation among Democrats and like-minded friends
• Support and elect the duly selected nominees of the Democratic Party in national, state, and local campaigns
• Foster good fellowship among Democrats and like-minded friends
Our History
It was election year 2000. Remember Bush v Gore. There were a lot of people who felt the election was stolen from the Democrats. Some people in Venice who had worked on that election felt frustrated and wanted to do something positive about it. Jackie and Lowell Jones organized a meeting with this small group of dedicated workers to discuss starting a Democratic club in Venice. During that election many people had said that “they were the only Democrats in the neighborhood”.
Our goal was to encourage people not to be afraid to admit they were Democrats. We needed to speak up! Lowell chaired the first meeting at Pelican Pointe. He stated that bylaws would be written, and a slate of officers would be presented. Monthly meetings would attract like-minded Democratic members. One of our goals, as stated in the bylaws was to, ”foster good fellowship among Democrats”. To this day, it is a treat going to meetings knowing we will be able to express opinions freely, without worrying if one is being “politically incorrect”. A further goal was to create some interest in the community, so we could encourage Democrats to run and be elected to office.
On February 24, 2001, the VADC held its first formal meeting. We adopted our bylaws and elected a slate of officers. The picture of the initial board was printed in the Herald Tribune. In March of 2011 a 10 Year Anniversary party was held to commemorate this milestone. We are very proud of the work the VADC has accomplished. We now have almost 500 members and after moving from Pelican Pointe to the Holiday Inn to the Venice Library, we have been meeting monthly in Naar Hall, 620 Shamrock Blvd, Venice, since 2005.
