Pat Waak

Patricia A. "Pat" Waak (born c. 1943) is the chair of the Colorado Democratic Party. A population and environmental policy analyst and consultant, Waak was elected to chair the Colorado Democratic Party in 2005. She led the party as it saw statewide gains in 2006 and won the right to host the Democratic National Convention. A superdelegate to the national convention, Waak publicly endorsed Sen. Barack Obama in late May 2008.

Biography

Born in Muskogee, Oklahoma and raised in Texas, Waak, a registered nurse, was a Peace Corps volunteer in Brazil where she taught maternal and child healthcite web |url=http://wasearch.loc.gov/e22k/20020927105305/http://www.patwaak.com/about.html |title=About Pat |accessdate=2008-02-17 |work=Pat Waak for Congress ] between 1966 and 1968. She holds bachelor's and master's degrees in psychology and a doctorate in ministry.cite news |first=Lynn |last=Bartels |coauthors=Chris Barge |title=Meet state's superdelegates |url=http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/jun/09/meet-states-superdelegates/ |work=Rocky Mountain News |date=9 June 2008 |accessdate=2008-06-14 ]

During the Carter administration, she worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development and then joined at Columbia University as Assistant Director for the Center for Population and Family Health. She then spent 17 years at the National Audubon Society, from 1985 to 1999.cite web |url=http://peacecorpsonline.org/messages/messages/467/2026087.html |title=1966: Patricia Waak served in Brazil in Maceio beginning in 1966 |accessdate=2008-02-17 |work=Peace Corps Online ]

Waak was a delegate to the 1994 U.N. International Conference on Population and Development, and chaired the population and environment technical committee for the Commission on Environmental Strategies and Planning of the World Conservation Union. She was named a Population Reference Bureau Honorary Fellow in 1992, and received the Audubon Society's Charles Callison Award in 1998. She is was the executive director of an environmental center in Loveland, Colorado.cite web |url=http://coloradodems.org/content/view/161 |title=Patricia Waak Biography |accessdate=2008-02-17 |work=Colorado Democratic Party ]

Waak is also the author of "My Bones Are Red", a genealogical memoir published in 2005.cite web |url=http://www.amazon.com/BONES-ARE-RED-Patricia-Waak/dp/0865549176/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203207204&sr=8-1 |title=My Bones Are Red (Paperback) |accessdate=2008-02-17 |work=Amazon.com ] She is married; Waak and her husband, Ken Strom, have two daughters, Cinira Baldi and Rachel Carter.

Political career

Waak's political resume includes stints as deputy campaign manager for presidential candidate Sargent Shriver in 1976 and a run for U.S. Congress in Colorado's 4th congressional district in 2002. A resident of Erie, Colorado, she has also served as a Democratic Party precinct chair and a member of the Weld County Democratic Party Executive Committee.

She was elected to chair the Colorado Democratic Party in March 2005, defeating incumbent party chair Chris Gates in a narrow 187-184 vote by Colorado's Democratic Party central committee.cite news |first=Gwen |last=Florio |title=Pat Waak elected Colorado Democratic Party chairman |url=http://peacecorpsonline.org/messages/messages/6253/2029494.html
work=Rocky Mountain News |date=9 March 2005 |accessdate=2008-02-17 ] Supporters of Gates contended that the close vote reflected a rift between moderates and liberals within the state party, while other Waak supporters contended that the election reflected problems with Gates' leadership style.cite news |first=Matt |last=Singer |title=Colorado Dems, Fresh Off Successes, Switch Things Up |url=http://www.newwest.net/index.php/topic/article/399/C37/L37
work=New West Politics |date=7 March 2005 |accessdate=2008-02-17 ] Waak was re-elected unanimously to a second two year term in March 2007.cite web |url=http://www.patwaak.com/ |title=A Message from Patricia Waak |accessdate=2008-02-17 |work=Pat Waak ] During her term as state party chair, Colorado Democrats won control of the governorship and Congressional seat in 2006cite news |author=Staff Reports |title=Waak To Continue Leading Colorado Democrats |url=http://peacecorpsonline.org/messages/messages/467/2093053.html
work=Associated Press |date=5 March 2007 |accessdate=2008-02-17 ] and successfully bid to host the 2008 Democratic National Convention.cite news |first=George |last=Merritt |coauthors=Chris Olsher |title=Denver wins Democratic National Convention, beating out NYC |url=http://peacecorpsonline.org/messages/messages/467/2079028.html
work=Denver Post |date=11 January 2007 |accessdate=2008-02-17 ] Waak presided over the 2008 Colorado Democratic Party Convention, the largest convention in state party history.cite news |first=Timn |last=Hoover |title=Democrats approve platform |url=http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_9276038 |work=Denver Post |date=18 May 2008 |accessdate=2008-06-13 ]

As Colorado Democratic Party chair, she is a superdelegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention, did not publicly announce her intention to vote for a particular candidate during most of the contested primary battle between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. She cited her post as state party chair as justification for remaining neutral in the presidential contest until a clear winner emerges.cite news |first=Steven K. |last=Paulson |title=Some Colorado superdelegates lining up behind candidates |url=http://www.politicswest.com/democratic_national_convention/12294/some_colorado_superdelegates_lining_behind_candidates
work=Denver Post |date=30 October 2007 |accessdate=2008-02-16 ] cite press release | title=Comment on Unpledged (Super) Delegate | publisher=Colorado Democratic Party | date=19 February, 2008 | url=http://cohousedems.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/02/lawmaker-expand.html | accessdate=2008-02-23 ] cite news |first=Dan |last=Balz |title=Influential Democrats Waiting to Choose Sides |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/08/AR2008030802664.html
work=Washington Post |date=9 March 2008 |accessdate=2008-03-14 ] cite news |first=Jeff |last=Brady |title=Colorado Democrat Stays Mum on Presidential Pick |url=http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89421336 |work=National Public Radio |date=6 April 2008 |accessdate=2008-04-10 ] Waak endorsed Obama on May 28, shortly before the final Democratic primaries, during a visit by Obama to the state, citing Obama's success in the February caucuses in Colorado and Obama's lead in general election polling of Colorado voters.cite news |first=Howard |last=Pankratz |title=Head of state Dems endorses Obama |url=http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_9402147 |work=Denver Post |date=28 May 2008 |accessdate=2008-06-14 ] cite news |first=John |last=Aguilar |title=Erie superdelegate backs Obama |url=http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2008/may/28/erie-superdelegate-backs-obama/ |work=Boulder Daily Camera |date=28 May 2008 |accessdate=2008-06-14 ]

References

External links

* [http://www.patwaak.com/ PatWaak.com] - personal site