March is not just a month, but for the Weld Dems it seemed like a command. Weld Dems from all over the county have been on the move this last month, more than at any other time of year, and it doesn’t look like the action is going to slow down in April or anytime soon. No foolin’!
Starting off this frenzy of activity was our Century Club fund raiser. It turned out to be a fabulous event with great food, good attendance, and a wonderful guest speaker in Colorado Attorney General, Phil Weiser. My deepest thanks to the Events Committee, particularly Pat Kiovsky for spearheading the event and to all who brought the fabulous food, staffed the bar, and aided in set up and take-down. Also kudos to the wonderful trio who entertained us with music, Thanks to Bill and Marcia Bohnenblust and Dr. Ken Kaplan, for their awesome ensemble. The event brought in nearly $9,000 to go toward the work of the Party this year!
If you were not at the Century Club event, you may not have heard that the League of Women Voters and the Latino Coalition won a summary judgement against the Weld County Commissioners regarding the gerrymandered redistricting of the commissioner districts. The Commissioner’s current maps will not apply, and for now they can use the old maps, but it looks like they will have to follow state mandates on redistricting, and not just do what they want to preserve their Republican majority districts. As it turns out, voters should get to pick their commissioners and not commissioners getting to pick their voters.
The Monday following the Century Club, I was asked to be on a panel by the Republican Women of Greeley. The other panelists included Tom Van Lone, Weld Republican Chair, and Joan French, a local Unaffiliated activist voter. The purpose of the panel was to present platforms of the parties, and to find out why so many unaffiliated voters had abandoned the two major parties. As reported in a recent CPR article, since the last Colorado election, 130,000 Republicans have left the party but so to have 20,000 Democrats. There were probably more Republican women in the audience than Unaffiliated or Dems, but it did give me a chance to promote Democrat accomplishments, positions and values. I was the only one who came with notes, articles, quotes, and printed handouts. Every one of my handouts was picked up, so I am hoping that helps in getting Republicans and Unaffiliated an opportunity to look over some of our platform and accomplishments.
By the end of the week, we were actively engaging with Democrats from all over the county. Caucus presented virtually is a challenge, but it went off very well. We heard from most of our candidates and signed up delegates for the County Convention and Assembly on March 16. The Weld County Convention and Assembly brought many Democrats together to vote on which delegates will go on to the state party assembly, and to their house and senate district assemblies. This event took a village to accomplish. My deepest gratitude goes to the Permanent Organization Committee: Jerad Sutton, Carol Burkhart, Barb Niebauer, Ken Clark, Ann LaPlante, Pat Kiovsky, Barb Whinery, Jeri Shepherd, Paulette Dolan, Brad Sameshima, who by amazing cohesiveness, time commitment, and problem-solving skills, brought together an amazing virtual event. Thanks too to Jamie Jeffery, Lisa Chollet, Jarrad Munger, Greg Flebbe and Alan McLarty for their assistance.
One thing we didn’t accomplish as hoped was to sign up more precinct organizers. We have over 200 precincts in Weld County and now only 43 precinct organizers. If you would like to join and be a part of winning in Weld County, please go to our website WeldCountyDems.org, and fill out a volunteer form. You could also call our office at (970)351-7047 and leave a message that you would like to be a leader in your precinct to help get out the vote and elect strong Democratic candidates that will represent our values and ideas. If neither of these works for you, send an email to wd.centralcomm@gmail.com. The rewards are plenty, but the workers are few. We need you, and truly appreciate any time you can devote to Democratic causes.
If being a PO is too much of a time commitment, but you would love to support democracy by helping with the election process, this may be what you are looking for. Maybe you’re curious about how elections are actually run and what is involved in counting votes. We need you to follow your interest by becoming an election judge. This year with the now-added special election to fulfill Ken Buck’s term as well as the June primary, the county will need close to 550 election judges to serve all over the county. If you have an interest, you can fill out an application to apply. Election judges are paid positions. Visit the Weld County Elections website or send an inquiry email to elections@weld.gov to find out more.
One more way you could get involved with supporting your passions, values and issues is to help with the Initiative 89 project. Coloradoans for Reproductive Freedom are striving to put a constitutional amendment on the November 2024 ballot to protect abortion from government interference. They are gathering signatures, and you can help. If you haven’t signed a petition yet and would like to, please call our office and we can have one brought to you. You may also be able to find petitions being offered at local events and stores, libraries and public parks. You could also help in acquiring signatures. It just takes watching a short training video and signing up to be a petitioner. Finally, you can donate to the cause. By April 18, the signatures must be presented to the Secretary of State. The goal is 180,000 and they have just over 166,000 now. Signatures must be gained from every Colorado Senate District and several areas, particularly rural areas need help. If you would like more information, go to coloradoansforreproductivefreedom.com. Donations are always welcome too. On April 18, there will be a rally at the State Capitol to present the signatures, if you are interested in attending, watch for more details on our website.
This is Action April for sure. Senate and House district assemblies, as well as the state assembly, are scheduled for the next two weeks. If you are a delegate, be sure you know when your assembly is scheduled and be sure and attend. Spring is the best time to get active and stay active as a Democrat. I hope to see your participation in any or all of these events.
Bev Wallace, Chair of the Weld County Democratic Party
One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you will end up being governed by imbeciles or those with evil intent . Plato