Hello Democrats—we had a great meeting in Sarpy County on Feb 3rd. Thank you Sarpy County Chair Charlene for welcoming us into your county!
A re-cap of key approved items along with other updates from the meeting is below.
A special note to candidates—you should be on the listserv which is how we communicate with all candidates. Critical information went out this week. If you are not getting these emails, please send an email to eric@nebraskademocrats.org.
Lots of hand wringing continues to happen at the national level on DNC fundraising, unity, etc. Lots of Chairs are included in this article including some quotes from me, which for the Examiner, is actually a good overview of the changes—sure its slower than everyone wants, but changes are happening. Pres. Obama was the best President we had in decades yet party building was not his focus and the loses of over 1,000 state seats showed what happens without strong, funded state parties. So we all rebuild : http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/some-democrats-arent-buying-the-dncs-new-50-state-strategy/article/2647896
Let’s keep building together and getting things done!
-Jane Kleeb
Upcoming Events:
-We keep all NDP fundraisers and meetings updated on our NDP event page (other candidate events and special events like Politics and Pints are on our NDP FB Page):
https://nebraskadem.wpenginepowered.com/events/
-Get your ticket to the Salute to State Senators, Feb. 20 in Lincoln. We are bowling!!
https://nebraskadem.wpenginepowered.com/blog/letsbowl/
-The online registration page is (already!) up for our Spring Meeting, April 6-7, in North Platte. The Lincoln County Democrats tabled at our Winter Meeting with great welcome packets.
Updates:
-We have some job openings for the Coordinated Campaign. Please pass around the job descriptions.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DGWRVtCUtfwn7Je1X_ZLa4D2ID9XI-iN/view?usp=sharing
-We are proud of our new Block Captain program that is a critical part of our Coordinated Campaign structure of Regional Directors, Precinct Captains and the all volunteer Block Captains. You can read all about the Block Captains and download the flyer that has the training and canvass schedule online. If you have questions about the program, Ron Rivera, is the lead staff person and can help sign you up or answer questions.
-DNC Committeewoman Patty Zieg, Christa Yoakum and John Kretzschmar developed a Democrats Believe document meant to serve as an overarching message document. This of course does not replace the Platform—this is meant to help candidates and party leaders with springboard statements and to connect us all in values-based messaging. You can send feedback to Patty.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/16ishjwp3zqIlYKyjwX0q3CIbOpXB1jA5/view?usp=sharing
Blue Bench Trainings at Winter Meeting:
-Democrats were trained on how to become a Deputy Registrar to register voters. Thank you to Chris Carithers with the Douglas County Election office.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QZHH5IO0uooGh8ogoqMVRsDyXAXxhB8L/view?usp=sharing
-Thank you to our Executive Director Eric for his work (and patience for all of us who do not know this tool well!)—he trained Democrats on using the VAN to create walk lists and targeting.
-Thank you to Alex Gates, Technology Chair and Justin Kemerling, graphic designer guru for their hard work and dedication to making all sites beautiful. They trained folks and presented then at the SCC meeting on creating a website for your county party and caucus. If you want to take the NDP up on the FREE offer to get a website up, check out the Checklist and Jacob can help get you started.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BOSyu7let4ooP4CxBBMojtEadP4qRkRn/view?usp=sharing
Key Votes from Winter Meeting:
-We approved a Code of Conduct, the work of a Special Committee that worked hard over the holidays to make sure we had a set of policies we can all be proud of, especially given this critical moment in our history. The Rules Committee will now work with the Special Committee on the Code of Conduct to ensure the process for reporting and other steps are in line with our rules and bylaws. Any updates will be brought to the SCC at the Spring Meeting. Special thanks to the Special Committee Janet Stewart, Committee Chair Nebraska Democratic Women’s Caucus Chair; Richard Register, First Congressional District Chair; Megan Mikolajczyk, Planned Parenthood Voters of Nebraska, Nebraska Democratic Women’s Caucus District 1 Chair; Mark Hoeger, Second Congressional District Chair; Kimara Snipe, Second Congressional District Associate Chair; Stan Kontogiannis, Third Congressional District Associate Chair; Judy Vohland, Third Congressional District Associate Chair; Dr. Jonathan Benjamin-Alvarado, University of Nebraska at Omaha; Kate Wolfe, Nebraska Unicameral staff, campaign consulting professional.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1omN1NX9ZLpVOFk57wgVGUDmcUyLds0Bk/view?usp=sharing
-We approved the memo to the NE SOS to allow Independents to vote in our primary.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/15JcayRzZ_K_zLd6KCn04F8ur81fXvndj/view?usp=sharing
-We approved a resolution stating our values and principles with a Fairness of Support to Democratic Candidates.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1w9ijspcIiCf34wjslYSJB3drJnjnfo5p/view?usp=sharing
-We approved the dates of the County Conventions and the Delegate Allocations. County Conventions must be held between Wednesday, May 18th and Sunday, June 3rd. This puts us past the primaries and allows two weekends that do not include Memorial Day. The State Convention is in Lincoln, June 22-24, 2018. You can see the delegate allocations in the Rules memo online.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/14lhilrmPxiA2byq8gDQs_7YKz52LpQoV/view?usp=sharing
-We approved the Rural Caucus! Congrats Doc and all our rural Democrats who worked for the past year to make this happen.
Other Reminders:
-The Unity Reform Commission submitted our final report to the DNC on reducing Superdelegates, making caucuses more accessible, party reforms for transparency and engagement and work on primaries like same day voter registration. Next steps will be the Rules and Bylaws Committee turning the report into actual rules the DNC will then vote on in March and/or November. I am happy to give an update to your county or caucus on the report and recommendations. These are major reforms that open up our party.
https://my.democrats.org/page/-/Unity%20Reform%20Commission%20Report%2012.21.17.pdf
-Buy Charlene’s new book, Fearless: https://evelyntbutts.com
-Please send a thank you note to Bryon Line—he is retiring from the Veteran’s Caucus and the daily political work he has lead for the last 30 years to spend time with grand-babies—and to the joy of all of us who know his talents, to spend more time painting!
Get your ticket to the Salute to State Senators, Feb. 20 in Lincoln. We are bowling!!
