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LWV League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
San Francisco County, CA March 2, 2004 Election
Smart Voter Full Biography for Owen P. Stephens

Candidate for
Democratic Party County Central Committee; County of San Francisco; Assembly District 13

[photo]
This information is provided by the candidate

Owen Stephens, 25, has been a driving force behind the efforts of the San Francisco Young Democrats in the last year. As Vice President of that club, and a relative newcomer to the San Francisco political scene, he has proven to be an effective organizer, hard worker and an inspiration to the campaigns he has worked for. Owen is the youngest candidate, he works with youth professionally, he is gay and he is a life long Democrat. In what has surely been one of the most unusual and difficult years in San Francisco election history, Owen has shown unmatched energy and optimism for the future of the Democratic Party.

Owen is running for the SF DCCC because he believes the party leadership needs to move away from acting as an ideological forum and toward being the organizational arm of the Democratic Party in San Francisco. Owen believes that he can be a strong leader in the DCCC, specifically in terms of INSPIRING YOUNG PEOPLE TO VOTE and in creating a new MODERN DEMOCRATIC IMAGE.

Owen intends to see that the San Francisco Democratic Party wakes up to the reality of the world outside the city limits, where it is cool to be a Republican and the Democrats are losing ground fast. He wants to implement the ideas of the Howard Dean Campaign, MoveOn.org, Music For America, and Rock the Vote locally so San Francisco Voters WANT to be Democrats again!

"In 2004, San Francisco can be the California leader in creating victory for Senator Barbara Boxer, and the utter defeat of George W. Bush! A united, energized Democratic Party in San Francisco can be the Govantor Solution!"
- Owen Stephens, January 3, 2004

Owen has found a home in San Francisco after growing up in rural, conservative Calavaras County, which is located in central/eastern California. Where he is from, Democrats are few and far between. Owen knows what it is like to be alone and is proud to be a Democrat's Democrat. Owen lives out on Treasure Island, one of San Francisco's new, but exceptionally unique communities. He works for a non-profit exchange student organization, the Aspect Foundation. Owen spends his days placing over 1,000 high school and college students from around the glode in host families across the nation.

  • Owen is actively involved in the San Francisco Young Democrats, and the Alice B Toklas LGBT Democratic Club.

Owen has been named as the Northern California Fundraising Chair in securing a bid for San Francisco to host the 2005 Young Democrats of America Convention. Owen is also working on the second annual CBAY Issues Summit. Owen will soon join the Alice B Toklas Board as the club's Recording Secretary. Owen's activity and more then qualify him for a position on the SF DCCC:

  • 2003/2004 California Young Democrats "Man of the Year"

Honored for his efforts to fight the Recall and in mobilizing young people in San Francisco, the Bay Area and across the state, Owen was awarded "Man of the Year" by the leadership of CYD at the 2004 California Democratic State Converntion in January.

  • SFYD Anti-Recall Voter Registration Drive

Owen organized and led the successful Drive which exceeded its goal by 20% to register 600 Democrats. Of those registered 70% were under the age of 35 years old - NEW YOUNG DEMOCRATS. Owen orchestrated the month long effort, he designed the communications website (norecall.sfyoungdems.org), and he pushed club members to volunteer their lunch breaks, evenings and weekends. In the last two days of the drive, Owen registered 210 Democrats himself. San Francisco voted 80% against the Recall. Owen's Registrationn Drive helped make that happen.

  • Treasurer Susan Leal for Mayor & Kamala Harris for DA

Owen stood behind these two women and gave all he had to their campaigns, whether making sure SFYD was out on the trail, or personally doing advance work, fundraising or laying out ground work between their campaigns and San Francisco's young population. Owen wrote letters, and planned two social events aimed at young people for Kamala's victorious campaign. He worked closely with the Leal campaign through the summer, and in the final days of the election surprised them with an internet flash cartoon titled "WonderMayor" which he wrote and produced. The cartoon was viewed over 1,000 times in three days.

  • Coalition of Bay Area Young Democrats 2003 Issues Summit

As Outreach Co-Chair, Owen led efforts to attract participants and spread the word to students and young professionals from Monterey to Santa Rosa. The Summit brought over 100 active Young Democrats from around the Bay Area to a day long event in San Francisco that featured speakers such as US Rep. Barbara Lee, Assembly Member Mark Leno, State Senator Jackie Speier, Board of Equalizations Chair Carol Migden and Secretary of State Kevin Shelley.

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Created from information supplied by the candidate: February 11, 2004 13:04
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