In a letter posted online November 23, the African American Caucus of Mecklenburg County has called on the Democratic party chair of Mecklenburg County, Drew Kromer, to resign.
The caucus claimed, in the letter, that paid and volunteer staff had been mistreated and that Kromer made unilateral decisions to remove leaders from their positions while otherwise being uncommunicative with other staff.
The caucus letter also spoke on a lack of transparency surrounding the party’s financial concerns and a “refusal to engage with ethnic minority communities in Mecklenburg County.”
“You have an African American arm in your party, and when we are reaching out and trying to help you come up with a strategy, and when we are telling you the things that need to be done in our communities, you are not listening,” Caucus President Braxton Becoats said.
The letter from the African American Caucus comes several weeks after Monifa Drayton resigned from her role as executive director, saying she faced a racist and toxic work environment.
In her resignation after Election Day, in a letter written to Kromer along with the party staff, Drayton had claimed that she was stripped of her responsibilities, accusing party leaders of limiting her to only work with Black, brown and LGBTQ+ communities after stripping away her power due to false allegations. Drayton stated that the way she learned about losing her duties was through a staff memo, shared by her colleagues.
“This was truly reminiscent [of] what was required of professional Black women during the Jim Crow era,” the letter reads. “Without my knowledge or justification, I received a screenshot from staff in which they were informed of an organizational restructure … all of my duties and direct reports were redirected to Julia Buckner who was a replacement for the former Field Organizer who resigned two months prior.”
“Additionally, it was shared by multiple staff that they were instructed to not speak to me moving forward which was obvious while I was in the office, making the environment hostile and unbearable. This was done despite having a proven record of winning 100 percent of local campaigns that I managed and being a trusted voice in the political sector for many years.”
Kromer, 27, was selected to be the Mecklenburg Democratic Party chair in April 2023. Under his leadership, Kromer is credited with growing the party by recruiting thousands of volunteers as well as raising more than $2.5 million, garnering the newly minted chair national attention.
However, despite all of Kromer’s accolades, Becoats does not see the young politician as the way forward for the NC Democratic party. “If you are not treating that staff well or if you are not utilizing that money to reach all communities in Mecklenburg County, then what’s the point of having the money?” Becoats asked.
Mecklenburg County Democrats released a statement carried by The Charlotte Observer that said the party doesn’t comment publicly on personnel matters.“What we can say is that our organization, like our fundamental party beliefs, remains steadfastly committed to the principles of a diverse workforce and opportunity for all people,” the statement said. Party Chairman Drew Kromer has reportedly declined to provide any additional comments about the situation.