Irish American Democrats

Our History:

Irish American Democrats was founded in 1996 by Stella O’Leary to support the re-election of President Clinton who had made Peace in Ireland a priority during his first term in office. Since then, the political action committee has raised funds to support candidates who take an active interest in Irish Issues, and promote prosperity both here in the U.S. Today, Irish American Democrats support candidates for office who promote peace, justice and prosperity in Ireland. We engage our candidates in discussions on how they can most use their influence to further Irish culture in
the U.S. We contribute to Congressional Members who support immigration reform for the 50,000 Irish working without documentation in America. The Irish Vote is critically important in swing-states and elections across the country. The Irish in America have inherited a cultural tradition from the days of the Irish political machine. They reliably vote. The other inherited characteristic of the Irish American voter is that they relish participatory politics. In the 2006 Congressional elections, the Democrats gained 31 new seats. Of these, 15 were Irish Americans. In 2008, the Democrats added another 20 new seats. Of these, 9 were Irish Americans. Irish American Democrats, gave money and/or organized fundraisers, for each of these newly elected Congressional Members. In 2014 there are 8 new Irish Americans competing for House seats and 6 1st term Irish Americans seeking reelection. Twenty-seven European, Arab and Asian American political groups are represented in the Ethnic Coordinating Committee of the Democratic National
Committee. Of these 27 ethnic groups, Irish America has far and away the greatest number of representatives on Capitol Hill. To illustrate theimportance of the Irish vote in American elections, African Americans account for 13% of the American population and they have just one Senate Member, Jewish Americans are 9% of the population and they have 11 Senators. But, of the 100 member Senate body, Irish Americans have 16 Senators.