A record of Democratic leadership and public service

• Member, Democratic National Committee
• Vice Chair, DNC Western States Regional Caucus
• Member, DNC Credentials Committee
• Member, DNC Transition Advisory Committee (2017)
• Member, California Democratic Party Executive Board
• Delegate, Democratic State Central Committee
• Member, Los Angeles County Democratic Party Central Committee
• Chair, DNC Youth Council (2018-2022)
• Democrat of the Year, Los Angeles County Democratic Party (AD50, 2014)
• Man of the Year, California Young Democrats (2017)
• RFK Inspiration Award, San Fernando Valley Young Democrats (2019)
• Three-time Democratic Club Member of the Year
  

Historic successful campaigns for the Democratic National Committee

• In June 2016, Michael Kapp was elected by the California Democratic Party Executive Board to the Democratic National Committee. He was re-elected in March 2020.
• During his 2016 campaign, Michael visited 29 counties in eight months.
• In 2016, with 223 votes out of 293 cast, Michael earned the third-highest vote total among all 51 candidates in the state. At 30 years old, Michael was the youngest-ever person elected as California DNC member.
• Michael is the first California DNC member to complete an entire four-year term as a Young Democrat.
• In 2020, with 225 votes out of 328 cast, Michael was the third-highest male-identified candidate. At 34 years old, Michael was the first person to be re-elected to the DNC as a Young Democrat.
• In 2024, with 195 votes out of 313 cast, Michael was re-elected to the DNC.

Winning Democratic experience throughout California

• Statewide campaign experience in the Bay Area, Central Valley, and Southern California
• Advisor, consultant, and volunteer for dozens of successful statewide, Congressional, state legislative, and local races
• Worked for Bay Area elected officials Assemblymember Nancy Skinner and Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey
• Spent much of his adult life living and working in the Central Valley and Bay Area

Fighting for our Democratic values and DNC reform

At the time of his first election, Michael Kapp was the youngest-ever person elected to the DNC from California. A graduate of UC Berkeley, University of Chicago, and the UC Davis School of Law, Michael has fought from within and from outside our Party for our Democratic values, including fighting against climate change and economic inequality, and promoting criminal justice reform, LGBTQ+ equality, Medicare for All, consumer protection, and voter registration and protection.

In 2016, Michael Kapp ran for the DNC because the future of our planet was at stake. According to polls, despite the large stakes, the Democratic Party did not engage a whole generation of voters: addressing un- and under-employment, eliminating college tuition and student loan debt, and building affordable housing and modern transportation systems. These values are progressive Democratic values. Michael ran for re-election in 2020 and 2024 to continue to fight for these values.

Now in his third term on the DNC, Michael is a leader in organizing for DNC reform, transparency, and accountability. Some core principles for which he is organizing include:

1. Build and fund progressive/liberal alternative media spaces (podcasts, radio, TV, etc.) that can help drive truthful narratives year-round and combat far-right misinformation. 
2. Be more comfortable with authentic messages and messengers that don’t neatly fit the DC talking points of the day. Avoid succumbing to banal gestures like policy or the ever popular "let's form a commission to study the problem.” The DNC should look to the most effective grassroots organizations at the local, state, and national levels to understand how they are recruiting candidates, mobilizing volunteers, and engaging with voters, and partner with these groups to expand their work.
3. Support state parties. The 57 State Strategy requires on-going monthly funding for all state parties, with additional funding allocated to red and purple state parties. Additionally, the DNC should deliver additional on-going and grant-based funding, as well as training around voter registration and GOTV, to state parties and local organizers. Ideally the DNC should fund permanent state party offices to establish a year-round organizing presence and coordinate on-the-ground efforts. The DNC should subsidize a baseline salary and health insurance for all state party chairs. State party staff should be able to join the national DNC union. When state parties and grassroots organizers signal on-the-ground dangers that the party must address, the DNC should listen. And the DNC must encourage state parties to welcome new and diverse voices to participate in their organizations.
4. Democratize the DNC and empower Members. DNC Members represent their states and Democratic-affiliated organizations; by ignoring the demands of those elected by the Democratic grassroots, the DNC has willfully cut itself off from our own voters and activists. Communication between DNC Members between DNC meetings should be encouraged, with secure channels created to share experiences and perspectives so that DNC Members may to organize for positive outcomes nationally and in their home states. The DNC should hold internal elections by ranked choice voting, so that a quality consensus leader can emerge from among multiple good candidates. Instead of being stuck in the ways of the past, the DNC should be setting a modern standard for voting.
5. Dilute the power of the DNC Chair, especially in following our own rules when it comes to electing -- not appointing, as has been done in violation of our rules -- the 75 at-large DNC Members. The unlawful practice of only allowing the DNC Chair to present a slate for an up-or-down vote without modification or discussion must end. Each of the Chair's appointments to the DNC's Standing Committees should include a majority of DNC Members elected from state parties, not those from Democratic-affiliated organizations or at-large DNC Members. Standing Committees should be balanced in terms of how their DNC Members were elected to the DNC, as well as regional/geographic, racial, and gender diversity.
6. Limit the power of the usual D.C.-based consultants to make funding and messaging decisions. The DNC should reevaluate all of our existing contracts and create new opportunities for underrepresented consultants and vendors to participate in the DNC's RFP process. The DNC must be willing to stand up to a Democratic White House, Congressional leaders, or political consultants if these outside voices are pressuring the organization to place their own personal or financial interests ahead of the greater good.
7. The presidential primary must battle-test all of our Democratic presidential candidates, without favoring a particular candidate or well-heeled donors. The primary calendar should better emphasize the voices of Hispanic and Asian Americans in swing states.
8. The DNC must be more transparent. The DNC’s budget must be open to DNC Members, and topline decisions (such as the primary calendar, selection of the next quadrennial Convention site, number of and rules for entry to presidential primary debates, etc.) should be discussed and ratified by the full DNC Membership. Grassroots Democrats should be able to easily identify and contact their DNC Members, as well as attend DNC meetings.
9. The DNC should raise and spend money -- the right way. The DNC should emphasize small dollar donations over corporate dollars. A ban on corporate donations, or at least one from corporations that run contrary to the Democratic Party platform, is encouraged. To ensure that Democratic candidates represent the voters and not shadowy entities, the DNC should encourage real limits on dark money in Democratic primaries.
10. We must win elections -- and hold elected Democrats accountable. The primary responsibility of the DNC is to win elections. Democrats must win the White House back in 2028, but a Democratic Congress in 2026 will be essential to protect Americans from the corrupt excesses of the second Trump Administration. And down-ballot races are necessary for rebuilding our bench of elected Democrats. Finally, Democrats in elected office must be held to the ideals and views set out in the 2024 National Party Platform. Unlike MAGA Republicans who go along with the whims of an increasingly erratic octogenarian with fascist views, Democrats stand with and for the people. We must demonstrate that principle in all we do.

Support Michael Kapp and his campaign to bring reform, transparency, and accountability to the DNC!

What is the Democratic National Committee?

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is responsible for governing the Democratic Party, organizing the presidential primary and National Convention, and promoting the Party Platform. There are only 20 elected DNC members from California.

Who votes for California's DNC Members?

The Executive Board of the California Democratic Party consists of nearly 400 Democratic Party leaders from around the state.