HD 36 Democrats

This coming Tuesday, April 26, our regular HD 36 meeting will be a candidate forum with Democratic candidates for Aurora city and school board elections this November.. This will be a chance to hear from our candidates, ask them questions, and get involved to help their campaigns.

We will have the chance to hear from Debbie Stafford, candidate for mayor, Alfonso Nunez, candidate for Ward V, Dave Willman, candidate for Ward VI, and Peter Cukale who is running for re-election to the Aurora Public Schools Board of Education.

The candidate forum will begin at 6:30 PM at Arapahoe County Democratic HQ, 15455 E Iliff Ave (at the intersection with Chambers).

Hope to see you there!

Our first post-caucus district meeting will be this coming Tuesday, March 23 at 6:30pm at Arapahoe County Dems HQ (15455 E Iliff).

Over 150 people attended caucuses at Hinkley High last week, about three times as many as turned out to caucus in 2006 – the last non-presidential caucus year.  I consider this a success!  Thank you again to everyone who helped us call all prior caucus attendees in the past weeks to motivate turnout this year.

Whether you went to caucus for Andrew Romanoff or Michael Bennet or were undecided, as HD 36 Democrats we have a few common goals in front of us for the rest of this year.  Our State Representative, Su Ryden, is up for re-election in November and it’s our job to help keep HD 36 blue.  In so doing, we need to try to turn out as many Democratic voters in HD 36 as possible, which will benefit other Democratic candidates and campaigns as well.

At this week’s meeting we will start working toward these goals by making plans for volunteer recruitment and targeted voter contact in HD 36 for the rest of the year.  We may also be able to hear updates from our state legislators.

Hope you can join us Tuesday.

This is a reminder that our regular 4th Tuesday meeting will be February 23 at 6:30pm at Arapahoe Dems HQ (15455 E Iliff).  Our two goals will be to finish calling all prior HD 36 caucus attendees and to plan for this year’s caucuses at Hinkley High school.  (Thank you to everyone who has helped make hundreds of calls to caucus attendees thus far!)

Also next week, we will have the chance to hear from former Colorado House Speaker and present U.S. Senate candidate Andrew Romanoff. He is expected to arrive at our meeting between 7:45pm and 8:00pm based on scheduling information from his staff.  If you have questions for Andrew Romanoff or want to learn more about his platform, this is a good chance to speak to him in person!  (Note – neither the HD 36 Democrats nor the Arapahoe County Democrats are endorsing one candidate or the other in the U.S. Senate primary.)

As a reminder, precinct caucuses this year will be Tuesday, March 16.  If you are willing to help with set up and clean up of our location at Hinkley High school, please email mike@hd36dems.org

This year HD 36 precinct caucuses (for all precincts in HD 36) will be held at Hinkley High School, 1250 Chambers Road.  Caucus Day is Tuesday, March 16.

Precinct Caucuses have several important functions:

• Election of Precinct Committee People (PCPs) – PCPs are the foundation of the county party and members of the HD 36 and County central committees.  PCPs get to vote on all official matters before the HD 36 or County central committee.
• Submission of proposals for the party platform – Every two years the State Platform Committee revises the official platform.  If you want to be involved, you can submit ideas at caucuses.
• Preference poll for the U.S. Senate race – Whether you support Andrew Romanoff or Michael Bennet, you can cast your preference vote at caucus.
• Election of delegates to county assemblies - Each precinct will elect a few delegates to the Arapahoe County Assembly, where candidates for county offices will be placed on the Democratic ballot and where delegates to the State Assembly will be chosen.

Precinct Caucuses are the beginning of getting organized for the 2010 election!

This year HD 36 will work to re-elect State Rep. Su Ryden and turn out as many Democratic votes as possible for all candidates.  We hope you can help!

How?

Whether you can volunteer one hour per month or several hours per week we need your help!  Here are some ways you can participate:

• Join our regular working volunteer meeting the 4th Tuesday of each month at 6:30pm, starting in January 2010 (no December meeting due to holidays).  We’ll work on a different project each month, like calling prior caucus attendees, working on mailings, voter contact data entry, calling constituents for Rep. Ryden.
• If you can’t join the 4th Tuesday meetings, but want to help out for a few hours each month, you can make phone calls on your own.
• We hope to organize several volunteer community service activities in 2010, such as helping out in soup kitchens or cleaning up neighborhood parks.  Let us know if you have ideas!
• Go door to door to talk to voters for Rep. Ryden and other Democratic candidates.  This is the single most effective way of helping elect and re-elect Democrats.
• GO TO CAUCUSES on March 16 ,2010 at 7PM. The location will be announced soon.  Precinct caucuses are where you can voice your preference in the U.S. Senate primary; participate in the Colorado Democratic Party platform process, and win election as a Precinct Committee Person for your precinct.

Who?

YOU! Whether you are a precinct committee person, have volunteered regularly for Barack Obama’s campaign or other campaigns, or haven’t been involved much in Democratic campaigns and want to volunteer more in 2010, we need your help.  All that matters is that you care about making a difference in our community and in our state.

When?

Whenever you can help! HD 36 will have one regular working meeting per month in 2010, on the 4th Tuesday evening of each month at 6:30pm. We hope you can join us then.  But even if you can’t, you can help in other ways when you have time by calling voters, entering data, and going door to door for Democratic candidates.

Where?

HD 36 working meetings will normally take place at Arapahoe County Democratic HQ, 15455 E Iliff Ave (Iliff & Chambers).  You can also help just by talking to voters in your precinct.

Why?

Electing Democratic candidates is how we put Democratic principles into action.  In both the state capitol and in Washington D.C. votes will be cast that will shape our lives and these votes must be cast by officials who share our core principles or they will be cast by officials who surely do not.  At the state level challenges we face include creating jobs, increasing access to and decreasing the price of health care, and reforming our state budget problems (TABOR).  Also, after the 2010 elections, Colorado will undergo redistricting and reapportionment, which will determine our Congressional and state legislative boundaries for a decade.  At the national level, climate change legislation and comprehensive immigration reform are just two of the things at risk if we fail to retain Democratic majorities in 2010.