Don Daugherty encourages Knox Democrats to attend the nominating convention tomorrow night, but says he is withdrawing his name from consideration for Knox County Criminal Court Clerk and instead will focus his efforts on an independent "Democratic Resource PAC" and war room operation. Daugherty's full statement after the jump...

Don Daugherty Announcement:

Hi folks:

I just want to reiterate the importance of showing up Tuesday night to
this important convention to nominate a Criminal Court Clerk. I hear
there are several Democrats interested in this race. Joy McCroskey
received the GOP nomination yesterday. A Democrat can win this race in
November if he or she is qualified, competent, and has integrity. One
issue will predominate in this campaign: the failure of the Clerk's
office to meaningfully try to collect costs and fines over a period of
many years. Ms. McCroskey has been the Deputy Clerk - 2nd in charge -
and the deficiency in these numbers is staggering. I will do everything
in my influence to help any Democrat who fits the bill: qualified,
competent, with integrity.

As for my own plans, it was my intent to seek this nomination; however,
I have been persuaded - by what I believe is dire necessity - instead
to organize a Political Action Committee devoted to the advancement of
the Democratic Party's traditional ideals and its candidates. The legal
filing for this PAC - to be called the "Democratic Resource PAC" - will
be completed Tuesday. The most exciting news is that we will soon be
opening a "Democratic Resource Center" ("DRC") in Knox County, open at
least 6 days a week, to serve as a "War Room" for Democrats. The
opening will be accompanied by a Website, fundraising drive, and
grand-opening.

I believe that it is incumbent upon me to explain my decision to not
seek the Clerk nomination, and my aspirations for this immensely
exciting new project. At the outset, my interest in this position was
long-held, and I believe it was one of which I was uniquely qualified.
Much consideration and discussion occurred over the past couple of
months which instilled even more confidence that this race was one I
wanted to make and one which could be won by a Democrat. But the August
7 election results, and the surprisingly lop-sided defeats suffered by
a number of good, solid Democrats, caused me and a number of other
Democrats to step-back and re-consider where we are as a Party in Knox
County, and to further consider what needed to occur to "stop the
bleeding," to heal our wounds, and to push-on to 2010. I am convinced
that a Democrat can win in Knox County. We just have to do more to make
it happen.

Because of the size of some of the defeats we suffered on August 7, the
GOP may envision that its most recent victories have rendered the
Democratic Party meaningless in some areas of Knox County. But the
truth is that when Democrats vote, Democrats win. While there were a
few good precinct turnouts, we simply didn't vote in large numbers to
elect anyone countywide. Although we were disappointed with some of our
losses, we have alot on which to build. Just look at the 1st District,
where Sam McKenzie won an overwhelming victory, the 2nd District, where
Amy Broyles trounced Chuck Bolus and out-polled everybody on the ballot
there, and the 4th District, where Finbarr Saunders seized a Commission
seat with a surprisingly large win in a traditionally GOP area.

But we all know that if we are going to be a force to be reckoned with
in November and 2010 (when practically every seat in the county is up,
including all but two of those on the ballot August 7), we have to do
more, work harder, and try something different. So, rather than spend
my time over the next 10 weeks campaigning for a job I know other
Democrats are equally as qualified for, and spend the next two years
second-guessing myself about what I could have done to keep Tim
Hutchison from becoming County Mayor, and to elect a Democrat (Madeline
Rogero?) City Mayor, a few of us Democrats have decided to launch what
we call a "flank attack" by creating a PAC - unaffiliated with the
local Party - to help organize Knox County Democrats, to recruit and
offer aid to Democratic candidates, to house a "War Room" where any
Democrat in Knox County can go to help Democrats, to provide a location
- open as much as every day of the week - where a candidate,
volunteers, ward officers, etc can go to make a difference. We'll have
computers, work-stations, telephones, free-Internet access,
campaign-aids, and handbooks on how you can help and how to run a
campaign.

While the Tennessee Democratic Party operates a Democratic Resource
Center in Johnson City, nothing of this sort has ever been tried in
Knox County, or in any Tennessee county, by grassroots Democrats. I
cannot possibly tell you how excited I am about this venture, and I
hope you will be as well. We'll tell you more about this venture in the
coming weeks, but let's start down the right road by attending the
Convention Tuesday evening and nominating a solid Democrat to carry our
banner against the GOP in November.

Thank you for your indulgence.

Don Daugherty