Candidates running for Democratic State Committee chair make their case at a forum Sunday afternoon at JFK Middle School in Northampton. From left: Gus Bickford, Steve Kerrigan, Steve Tompkins. 
Candidates running for Democratic State Committee chair make their case at a forum Sunday afternoon at JFK Middle School in Northampton. From left: Gus Bickford, Steve Kerrigan, Steve Tompkins.  Credit: —Gazette Staff/STEPHANIE MURRAY

NORTHAMPTON — Following Donald Trump’s shocking presidential victory last week, Democratic State Committee members are already scrambling to motivate voters and unite the party ahead to the 2018 election — when they hope to reclaim the governor’s office from Republican Charlie Baker.

But first, they must choose a new leader.

The three candidates vying to become the next Democratic State Committee chair made their case at a forum in Northampton Sunday, just one day before the party elects its next four-year chairman.

Political consultant Gus Bickford, Statehouse veteran Stephen Kerrigan and Suffolk County Sheriff Steve Tompkins are the three candidates running for the four-year position. The committee will vote in Quincy on Monday night to select a new chairman. The winner will succeed state Sen. Thomas McGee of Lynn, who is relinquishing the party chairmanship after three years.

Sunday’s forum, held at JFK Middle School in Florence, was hosted by 10-year Democratic State Committee member Nancy Stenberg of Easthampton. Northampton Mayor David J. Narkewicz moderated the forum and asked 10 questions, ranging from how the party will recover following Trump’s victory, to how the Boston-based committee can better include western Massachusetts members.

Candidates were given 90 seconds for their responses and did not take questions from the audience during the forum, though they mingled with the 40 attendees before and after the event.

All candidates agreed the party must keep incumbents like Sen. Elizabeth Warren in office, encourage new leaders and strengthen the party’s grassroot campaigns — especially in rural areas where voters feel the Democratic Party does not listen to them.

The candidates

Bickford, former executive director of the party, said he would place his focus on making the party work for its members if he were elected chairman.

“I have a passion for this,” Bickford said. “What I hope to do for you is be able to feel proud and have the information and tools you need so you are the best state committee members possible.”

Bickford, of Westford, said he has devoted his life to getting Democrats elected. Bickford was the executive director of the committee in the 1990s. Bickford does political polling and did targeting work for Warren and Hillary Clinton in 2008. Recently, he worked on the social media strategy for the successful No on 2 campaign against the charter school ballot referendum.

Tompkins, of Hyde Park, hopes to strengthen the party’s leadership and communication if he is elected chairman. He said he would work to keep incumbents in office and motivate and empower the future leaders of the party. He said he will raise money for the party by reaching out to people of color and millennials. There are people with disposable income who want to help the party, he says, but they just have not been asked.

“We need to actively recruit people,” Tompkins said. “I’m talking about millennials, people of color, and we need to elevate ladies to the upper echelons of leadership.”

Tompkins said he wants to get out and talk to voters about “salient issues affecting their daily lives” like jobs, healthcare, public safety and transportation.

Stephen Kerrigan, of Lancaster, was the 2014 Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor. He received endorsements Friday from Attorney General Maura Healey and Senate President Stanley Rosenberg of Amherst.

Kerrigan said he hopes to establish regional offices and appoint thousands of precinct captains across the state ahead of the 2018 election. He would have the offices “staffed up and ready to go” at least a year ahead of the election.

Kerrigan said the party should stay focused on its message, rather than responding and repeating what the 2018 Republican candidates say the way Hillary Clinton did with Trump. Kerrigan cautioned Democrats, saying they should disregard Curt Schilling’s potential senate run.

“Ignore him, ” Kerrigan said. “We need to stay focused on our grassroots and our values and our principles.”

Kerrigan added that it is essential to make Baker a one-term governor and reclaim the corner office from the Republicans.

Transgender rights

In 2018, a question will likely appear on the ballot asking voters whether the state should repeal the new state law aimed at protecting the rights of transgender people. The candidates agreed the party must fight that question and grant seats on the committee for intersex and gender queer people.

Kerrigan, who is openly gay, said the question is a matter of civil rights.

“We need to, as a party, address this and add seats,” Kerrigan said. “This is core to who we are as Americans, as Bay Staters, and as human beings.”

Bickford suggested the state committee address intersex and genderqueer issues when it writes the party platform in December.

“We should put those issues in the platform so we don’t have to define them in the future,” Bickford said.

The candidates discussed using social media to get messages out to voters. The way politicians share messages has become more personal, they said, and the party must shift to accommodate that. Social media could even be used to engage committee members, Tompkins said. He suggested creating an email newsletter to keep committee members across the state in the loop.

The candidates also touted the importance of creating high school and college internship programs to inspire the next generation of Democratic leaders. Tompkins suggested the party work on a statewide civics agenda for middle schools and high schools so young people understand how powerful their votes can be.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.

Stephanie Murray can be reached at stephaniemur@umass.edu.