SPEAKIN’ OUT NEWS
(Montgomery Advertiser/December 2019 photo
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) has voted to unseat three Alabama Democratic Party (ADP) members after determining their elections were “flawed,” escalating a long-running feud between the state and national parties.
At its national meeting on August 26, 2025, in Chicago, the full DNC rejected a resolution that would have temporarily seated the members while new elections were held under national party supervision. Instead, delegates voted to remove Joe M. Reed, Donna Foster, and Charlie Staten from their roles.
Reed Pushes Back
Reed, ADP’s longtime Vice Chair for Minority Affairs, was among those unseated. Speaking at the meeting, he argued the decision was driven by political infighting rather than fairness.
“There are politics up here that are being played that are, quite frankly, offensive to people in Alabama,” Reed said. “The division (is) being stoked by people who don’t win at the state level and then run to the DNC to get their friends to override what happened. The DNC is involved in the management of the Alabama Democratic Party and that’s a bridge too far. If they’re going to do it to Alabama, they’ll do it to anybody here in this room.”
National Members Push for Accountability
Other DNC members disagreed. Matt Hughes, a newly seated Credentials Committee member from North Carolina, urged colleagues to reject the compromise resolution and unseat the Alabama delegates outright.
“The Credentials Committee came forward with a relatively nuanced approach, which was, let’s go ahead and seat these folks who are questionable, and we acknowledge that there’s questions, but let’s seat those folks so Alabama has its full contingent and can vote,” Hughes said. “I suggested that folks vote against that credentials report, in part, because if it’s a flawed election, then whoever is voting cannot represent Alabama Democrats. It gives the state, theoretically, full voting strength, but it was a flawed election to begin with, so who’s being represented by doing that?”
Who Were Unseated
• Joe M. Reed – Longtime ADP Vice Chair for Minority Affairs; initially seated despite election findings raised by the DNC Credentials Committee (1819 News).
• Donna Foster – Alabama DNC member whose election was invalidated due to concerns about the composition of the electorate and vote tabulation (1819 News).
• Charlie Staten – The third member elected in the same contested cycle; unlike Foster and Reed, his margin of victory was deemed sufficient to withstand scrutiny (1819 News).
Background
In April 2025, the DNC Credentials Committee recommended new elections due to irregularities found in the selection process of these members. While Staten’s election was upheld, Foster’s and Reed’s were rejected. Rather than immediately unseating all three, the committee issued a resolution proposing to temporarily seat them just for the August meeting, with the expectation of remediated elections to follow (1819 News).
At the national meeting in Chicago, however, the DNC rejected that compromise—effectively removing all three from their roles and sending the matter back to the Credentials Committee for further action (1819 News).
Years of Infighting
The latest fight stems from a 2024 vote for Alabama’s DNC members that collapsed after failing to meet quorum. A flawed mail-in process followed, and when that effort also failed, ADP Chair Randy Kelley declared the seats vacant and appointed replacements. That decision triggered a challenge at the national level.
This conflict is only the most recent chapter in a feud stretching back to 2019, when then-U.S. Sen. Doug Jones helped push through new bylaws for the state party. Those bylaws diluted Reed’s influence by creating new caucuses for Hispanics, youth, Asians, and people with disabilities. Since then, Reed and Kelley’s faction has fought to roll back those changes, while Jones-aligned Democrats and national leaders have pushed for broader representation.
What’s Next
The unseating leaves Alabama Democrats with reduced representation at the national level until new, DNC-monitored elections can be held.
While Reed and his allies insist the moves amount to outside interference and racial bias, national party officials argue the integrity of the election process must come first.
Timeline of the Feud
• 2019 – Then-U.S. Sen. Doug Jones pushes bylaw changes in the Alabama Democratic Party, expanding minority caucuses and reducing Reed’s influence.
• 2022 – Randy Kelley elected ADP chair; Reed and allies regain influence, move to roll back 2019 reforms.
• 2024 – ADP fails to reach quorum for DNC delegate elections; mail-in vote also deemed flawed. Kelley appoints replacements unilaterally.
• April 2025 – DNC Credentials Committee orders new elections but raises concerns about irregularities and non-members voting.
• August 26, 2025 – At its Chicago meeting, the DNC rejects a compromise to temporarily seat the disputed members, voting instead to unseat Reed, Foster, and Staten outright.