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Mecklenburg Democratic leader resigns, accuses county party of racism

Monifa Drayton
linkedin.com/in/monifadrayton/
Monifa Drayton resigned from her position as the executive director of the Mecklenburg Democratic Party this week.

The executive director of the Mecklenburg Democratic Party, Monifa Drayton, resigned on Wednesday, accusing the party of discriminating against her because of her race and gender.

Drayton wrote in a letter obtained by WFAE that it was “humiliating” when the county party stripped her of her full executive director responsibilities and had her only work with minority communities. She compared that to the Jim Crow era.

Monifa Drayton resigned from the Mecklenburg Democratic Party this week.
A portion of the resignation letter Monifa Drayton sent to the Mecklenburg Democratic Party this week.

She also said the party had problems with “governance, accountability and spending controls.” She said she was subject to a hostile environment.

Drayton had previously been interim director of the Arts and Science Council.

The Mecklenburg Democrats said in a statement that they do not comment on personnel matters. It said the organization is committed to a diverse workforce and opportunity for all.

Under party chair Drew Kromer, the county party raised more than $2 million and hired more staff to boost turnout, which has historically lagged the state.

But Mecklenburg’s turnout in this week’s election was again below the state average.

Steve Harrison is WFAE's politics and government reporter. Prior to joining WFAE, Steve worked at the Charlotte Observer, where he started on the business desk, then covered politics extensively as the Observer’s lead city government reporter. Steve also spent 10 years with the Miami Herald. His work has appeared in The Washington Post, the Sporting News and Sports Illustrated.