FROM THE CHAIR
May I ask you what your plans are for electing Democrats to office? That is a question I have heard often at meetings with state and district officials. Since it is now May, in the next 6 months we will be asking Precinct Organizers, House and Senate District leaders and of course voters, this very question.
This is going to be a tough election cycle. We have a lot of disenchanted, grumpy and in many cases, downright scary, lunatics who will be attempting to thwart our voter victory plans and make others, to get their way regarding any elections. This means, if we want to get Democrats elected, we are going to need manpower, a lot of work and people who will stand up for Democracy and not conspiracy.
Seriously, we need your help. First and foremost, we have got to get people registered to vote, and up-to-date on their voter registration. Since the pandemic started, we have had a net gain of 6730 people moving into the greater Greeley area, It is the 17th fastest-growing area in the country where people have moved to since the start of the pandemic according to The Center Square and NewsBreak. This is a tremendous opportunity to register people to vote and we need your help to do so. If this is something you can help with, please go sign up to volunteer at the Weldcountydems.org website or call the office at 970- 351-7047. We will put you in touch with training opportunities and individuals who can set you up in the area or districts where you live. We will need right away at the Cinco de Mayo celebrations on May 7th, to guide people on how to register or change their voter information. We will need volunteers all summer for Fourth of July events and Friday Fest, or other events, or in strategic neighborhoods. This can be a very rewarding volunteer event so please sign up to help.
With all of our newly redistricted House and Senate Districts we will have many opportunities to help our new candidates. These are the candidates for each House District in Weld County.
HD19 Jennifer Parenti
HD48 Spring Erickson
HD50 Mary Young
Congressional District 4 Ike McCorkle
Congressional District 8 Yadira Caraveo
State School Board CD8 Rhonda Solis.
Senate District 25 Faith Winter
We have two candidates for CU Regent:
Yolanda Ortega and Rosanna Reyes
House District 63 and Senate District 1 have no Democratic candidate who stepped forward.
Senate District 13, 17 and 23 are not up for election in 2022.
No candidates stepped forward for County Commissioner, Sheriff, County Clerk or Assessor.
Each of these candidates will need a lot of support. They need your donations. Because these are newly bordered and re numbered districts, there is no history of how voting will go. If Democrats can win these districts, they have a good likelihood of keeping them a Democratic district, which would go a long way in turning Weld County blue. I can remember that Larimer, Summit and Adams were once red counties and are now blue…with Weld’s fast growing population, the same can be true for us. Your money and your time can make all the difference. We will have candidate information on the website, and you can also volunteer there.
We have had some changes in executive leadership at the Weld Democratic Party. Last month we elected a new Vice Chair, Pat Bruner who replaced Deb Suniga who resigned to be a campaign manager for Rhonda Solis’ campaign, and we also elected Julie Elmquist as Second Vice Chair to replace Rhonda Solis who is running for State School Board and she stepped down from her position in the Weld Democratic Party. In addition, our Treasurer, Lyn Nelson, moved to Utah. Last Thursday, the executive committee voted replace her with our new Treasurer, Barb Niebauer. We also now have a position open for a State Central Committee Bonus member due to another resignation. If you would like to be considered for this position, please let me know. Truly, this is going to be a fight for our very Democracy and we cannot win without your support. We have many opportunities where you can help. In addition to registering people to vote, (registering people to vote is not something Republicans generally like to do, they are more in to voter suppression to achieve their goals) we will need help with printing and mailing post cards, texting, and phone banking. We also always need help in covering our office and of course in canvassing. So please make some time for supporting Democracy…it is fragile; maybe not like a flower, more like a bomb. We must make sure it all doesn’t blow up in our faces. As you have seen all over the country, crazy laws are being passed. Civil rights, voting rights, and women’s rights are repeatedly being usurped by conspiracy crazy nonsense. Let this be our motto for 22…Vote Blue Over Q.
Beverly Wallace
Weld County Democratic Party Chair
