In August of 1944 after the convention I was appointed assistant regional director for the CIO Political Action Committee with offices or headquarters at Seattle, Wash., under the director who was Roy W. Atkinson, and that region included Washington, Idaho, Oregon, and Montana. After I went to the State of Washington, I became active particularly with--one of the principal activities of the CIO political action committee was to advance and encourage registration for voting in the 1944 elections and in the State of Washington, particularly along the West coast there was a considerable influx of war workers during that period who, of course, were unregistered and my principal activity preceding the actual beginning of that 1944 general campaign was bringing about registration by getting the city councils in the various larger cities, particularly in the State of Washington, to hold a registration week and opening up the schools and then after the campaign, as I was explaining, the city councils called a registration week where there was the extended registration campaign or program carried on, and after that I then became assistant regional director for the CIO political action committee active with the Democratic organization, particularly in the State of Washington and of course also to some extent in Idaho and I don’t think during that campaign at all that I appeared in the State of Oregon. I was back in Montana a few times in that connection but I spent the principal part of that time working with the Democratic Party organization in the State of Washington. Mr. TAVENNER. Did you hold any position in the Democratic organization in the State of Washington? Mr. O’CONNELL. At that time I didn’t hold any. After the election--the Democratic Party was considerably successful in the State of Washington--and I think the Democratic Party leaders had a feeling that I had made a considerable contribution to the success which they had. Within a few weeks after the election the Democratic Party leaders in that State discussed with me taking a full-time position with the Democratic Party in the State of Washington as executive secretary of the Democratic Party. Mr. TAVENNER. That began in 1944? Mr. O’CONNELL. I was elected by the State central committee at Ellensburg, Wash., I think somewhere about in the middle of December 1944. Mr. TAVENNER. How long did you continue in that position? Mr. O’CONNELL. I continued in that position then until December, actually I ended my term as executive secretary some time in the beginning of the year, January 1947. In December 1946 a new Democratic State chairman was elected and he abolished the position of executive secretary and took the job and worked on the job on a full-time basis himself. Mr. TAVENNER. After that time did you hold an executive position with the Progressive Party?