Laurence Zakson and Becca Doten Elected to California DNC Delegation

Doten Becomes the Only Young Democrat Elected to California's Delegation to the DNC.

San Diego - In a three-day election that ended on Sunday, November 15, 2009, the Executive Board of the California Democratic Party elected two Democrats to California's Democratic National Committee (DNC) delegation: Laurence Zakson and Becca Doten.

Zakson is a prominent labor and campaign finance attorney and Doten is the Communications Director for a Los Angeles City councilmember. The election filled two vacancies in the California delegation. The female vacancy was created by the unfortunate passing of Inola Henry earlier this year. Henry was a respected activist and an institution in the California Democratic Party. "Inola was an inspirational leader in the Democratic Party and I hope to live up to the legacy of passionate activism she instilled in those that knew her," said Doten.

The male vacancy was created by the resignation of Ed Espinoza, who took a position on the DNC staff. "I am proud to be a member of the Democratic National Committee and am committed to work to expand Democratic majorities in Congress and get out the message of opportunity, economic justice, and reform championed by President Obama," Zakson said. "I am also pleased to be able to add another voice to the LGBT caucus of the Democratic National Committee," Zakson added.

Zakson's roots are in the labor movement. Before entering private practice, Zakson was the president of the National Labor Relations Board Professionals Association, a public sector union. He was an officer of the Los Angeles Stonewall Democratic Club for over 11 years. Zakson is, and has been, an officer of the West Hollywood/Beverly Hills Democratic Club since the mid 90s. Zakson was President of that club for 3 years. He is an elected member of the L.A. County Democratic Central Committee where he co-chairs the Rules Committee and serves on the Judicial Interview Committee.

Doten first got involved in politics in 2003, inspired and engaged by Governor Howard Dean's campaign for President. Since then, she has given hundreds of hours of volunteer time to local, state and national campaigns. In 2006, she was named a "Volunteer of the Year" by the Democratic Party of the San Fernando Valley (DP/SFV). For two years, she served as President of the Los Angeles County Young Democrats, where she created a strong legislative advocacy program and started a "Women in Politics" speaker series. As Political Director of the California Young Democrats, Doten worked with clubs from across the state to support legislation that would help young people in California and coordinated targeted campaign "invasions" of Young Democrat volunteers into red areas.

In addition to working with the Young Democrats, Doten has been a delegate to the CDP for each of the past five years and currently serves as the elected Executive Board member for Assembly District 46. She is also a Co-Chair of the CDP Legislative Action & Equal Opportunity Committee. In 2008, Doten was elected as an Obama delegate to the Democratic National Convention.

Both Doten and Zakson were endorsed and supported by many of the same political and elected officials, including Controller John Chiang and CDP Vice Chair Eric Bauman. Other candidates who vied for California's DNC delegation included Bobbie Jean Anderson, Jennifer Ong, Henry Vandermeir, Shawn Bagley, and Ruben Macareno.