Countywide : Democratic Leader Plans to Quit Post

Nels Henderson, who has lead the Ventura County Democratic Central Committee for the past two years, has announced that he will step down at the end of the year.

Henderson, 27, said he wants to devote more time to his new political and public relations consulting business and to concentrate on his upcoming marriage to 23-year-old Graciela Salinas. “I spent the last two years doing what is relatively a thankless job and I’m ready to move on,” Henderson said Wednesday. “I have wedding plans for late next year and, quite frankly, I need to start making some money.”

Henderson will officially resign his position at the Democrats’ January meeting, when a new chairman and other officers are selected.

A former campaign manager for state Sen. Gary K. Hart (D-Santa Barbara), Henderson was named to the voluntary post in January, 1990. Over the past two years, he has helped increase the visibility of the county’s Democratic Party and played a role in unifying disparate forces under a single group, the Democrats United.

Beverly O’Gorman, an aide to Hart, said Henderson’s energy has helped attract a number of younger Democrats into the fold this election year.

“Because of Nels’ visibility in that high position, other younger people came into the process,” O’Gorman said. “The response on college campuses has been much better this year.”

The Democrats also forged an effective voter registration drive last summer that closed the GOP margin to just 10,000 votes. And on Nov. 3, Ventura County voters backed a Democrat for President for the first time since 1964.

Henderson said he hopes that the party will build on those gains for the 1994 election, when, he said, county Democrats have a chance to win key Assembly seats. But he has not yet decided how active he will remain in local politics. He said he might help run campaigns for local candidates and has not ruled out the possibility of seeking public office himself someday.

“I’ve always been interested in public service,” Henderson said. “If I think there is some issue that is not being addressed in government, I just might throw my hat in the ring.”

For the immediate future, though, Henderson plans to concentrate on building up a political consulting and public relations business.

After Gov. Bill Clinton’s victory, Henderson said he briefly considered applying for a job in the new administration. But then he saw a television interview with a top Clinton aide, who said that President-elect Clinton has already received 10,000 resumes.

“I figured I don’t stand a chance,” Henderson said. “I’d rather stay in Ventura County anyway. It’s my home.”