Association of State Democratic Chairs Massachusetts
Massachusetts Democrats Work to Combat Trump’s Disastrous First 100 Days: Part 2
While President Trump fails to live up to any of his promises during the first 100 days of his administration, Democratic leaders and elected officials in Massachusetts are standing up to Trump and defending Massachusetts residents from his policies and political attacks. “One hundred days into the Trump administration, the President has broken dozens of his unconventional campaign promises. It’s clear he only cares about enriching himself and advancing the same old Republican agenda of tax cuts for the rich and less for the rest of us,” said Massachusetts Democratic Party Chair Gus Bickford. “Luckily, here in Massachusetts, our elected officials are fighting for our rights and looking out for working families. Our Attorney General, Maura Healey, has been recognized as a national leader in the fight to defeat the Trump administration’s illegal executive orders, and our Democratic statewide officials are speaking out against the President’s lies and hateful rhetoric.”
New Hampshire
In New Hampshire, Joe Biden talks of winning 'it back,' but adds 'Guys, I'm not running'
Joe Biden’s speech to sold out New Hampshire Democratic Party Dinner may have sounded like an early version of a 2020 stump speech, but the former Vice President insisted he’s not considering a third campaign for the presidency. Early in his keynote address at the McIntyre-Shaheen 100 Club Dinner, Biden said that when NHDP Chairman Ray Buckley invited him to speak in the first-in-nation-primary state, “there wasn’t a doubt in my mind, even though it caused a lot of speculation.” But Biden then immediately added “Guys, I’m not running.” A top state Democrat told NH1 News Biden could do more for the party by not running for president again. “Am I disappointed that Joe Biden says he’s not running. No. I think he is the kind of person we need to speak for the party, to lead for the party, and to encourage other people to run,” NHDP 1st Vice Chair Martha Fuller Clark said after the former vice president’s speech. The longtime state senator from Portsmouth added that “he (Biden) could not inspire us the way he did tonightif he were running for office.”
New Mexico
State Dems elect Santa Fean as party’s chairman
New Mexico Democrats have elected Santa Fean Richard Ellenberg as their state party chairman while they seek to mend divisions from last year’s presidential election and parlay opposition to President Donald Trump into electoral success in 2018. Ellenberg, 69, drew support from different corners of the party. With a record as chairman of the Santa Fe County Democratic Party, he pledged to turn the statewide organization into a fundraising, campaigning powerhouse as it works to win the Governor’s Office next year and hold on to a seat in the U.S. Senate. “In Santa Fe, we ended up with Bernie people and Hillary people working together. That’s the way it should be,” Ellenberg told members of the party’s central committee during a Saturday meeting in Albuquerque. The central committee also elected Neomi Martinez-Parra of Lordsburg as vice chairwoman and Katharine Clark of Santa Fe as secretary, and re-elected Robert Lara of Las Cruces as treasurer.
Pennsylvania
Pres. Trump celebrates 100th day with Harrisburg rally
President Donald Trump returned to Harrisburg on Saturday night to ring in his 100th day in office with Keystone State voters who helped deliver him the White House in November. “There is no place I’d rather be than right here in Pennsylvania to celebrate our 100-day milestone, to reflect on an incredible journey together and get ready for the great, great battles to come — and that we will win in every way,” Trump told the 7,000-plus supporters and handfuls of protesters at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex and Expo Center. Before the president took the stage, liberal groups from across the region held demonstrations, marches and counter-rallies near the Farm Show Complex. Chad Baker, chairman of the Democratic Party of York County, joined. Democratic National Committee Vice Chairman Michael Blake, Pennsylvania State Sen. Daylin Leach, Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse and others at a Pennsylvania Democratic Party resistance rally across the street from the complex. Baker said he was speaking at the rally because he was “ready to hold Donald Trump accountable for the last 100 days and for the rest of his administration.”
South Carolina
SC Democratic Party elects new chair
Political strategist Trav Robertson is the new chairman of the S.C. Democratic Party. Still licking their wounds after the election losses of 2016, S.C. Democrats electing a new leader at their annual convention Saturday pinned their hopes on a battle-hardened campaign manager instead of a progressive grassroots activist. “I’m going to work every day to create an organization that takes the fight to Republicans in this state,” said Robertson, 42, who has more than 20 Democratic campaigns under his belt. Robertson’s supporters billed him as the only candidate who can start to turn back the GOP tide. “Trav Robertson is a winner,” former state Rep. Anton Gunn, D-Richland, told the convention. “He knows how to take a district from red to blue. ... I got elected in a red district because Trav Robertson knew what he was doing.”
National Democratic Party Chairman Tom Perez calls on South Carolina to 'flip the fifth' district
Democratic National Convention Chairman Tom Perez told South Carolina Democrats Friday that if they take their message of being the party of unity and inclusion to the people, they will be able to flip the state's 5th Congressional District from red to blue. "We can do this, but we have to talk to people and listen to people," said Perez, the keynote speaker at the S.C. Democratic Party's annual fundraising Blue Palmetto Dinner. "We have got to articulate what we stand for, and then we have to put those morals into action." Three Democrats are facing off in 5th District special election primary Tuesday. The winner will vie to fill the seat left vacant by Republican Mick Mulvaney when he left earlier this year to join President Donald Trump's administration as budget director. Seven Republicans are running in the primary. Perez said if Democrats explain to people that they believe the economy works best when it works for everyone, when no one who works a full-time job should live in poverty and that education is the great equalizer.
Texas
Texas Republican Bundles Bills to Protect Kids from Sex Offenders and Labor Unions
State Sen. Jane Nelson began the 85th Regular Session of the Texas Legislature with a clear goal: protect children from rapists and labor unions. The Republican introduced a packet of legislation at the beginning of this year that included giving local governments the right to expand neighborhood sex offender boundaries. But here’s the proposal that’s ringing alarm bells at Democratic headquarters and labor union halls across the Lone Star State: Nelson offered legislation to make sure no kid joins a labor union without the consent of their parents. "This bill protects parental rights by requiring consent before a minor may join a union, and it protects minors from entering into a contract that they may not fully understand." Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa contended Nelson’s proposal was nothing but an “attack on working Texans and the labor unions that protect their rights.” “This is downright wrong. Republicans say that minors can have the freedom to work in Texas, but not the freedom to speak up together, join a union, and fight for a better workplace. Instead, they’re met with burdensome parental consent paperwork and bureaucratic nonsense,” Hinojosa said in a statement.
Virginia
Summit in Hampton strives to unite, energize local Democrats
Vanda Jaggard felt encouraged and inspired as she walked out of Sunday's Democratic and Activists Summit in Hampton, where 200 Hampton Roads Democrats gathered to promote party unity and find ways to work together to support their causes and win elections. Summit organizer Gaylene Kanoyton, first vice chairwoman of the Democratic Party of Virginia, said she formed the event in hopes of capturing the energy that many Democrats had following the presidential election and directing that energy to campaign support or advocacy for an issue. After leading the crowd in a chant of "Together, united, we'll never be divided," Kanoyton said she was happy with the turnout of the Hampton Roads event and the energy she felt from those who attended. "We don't all agree always ... but here we see how we all can come together," Kanoyton said.
Virginia Democratic chair said Trump victory awakened her party
The election of Donald Trump as president and his first 100 days in office have jolted Democrats across Virginia and the country, the chairwoman of the Virginia Democratic Party says. “It’s given us a new awakening,’’ said Susan Swecker, who said membership in local Virginia Democratic committees is burgeoning and said there is a surge in the number of Democratic candidates filing for fall Virginia House of Delegates and Senate races. “I’ve never seen more enthusiasm and interest in House of Delegates races,’’ Swecker said. While Trump has attempted in his first 100 days to fulfill campaign promises by defunding the Environmental Protection Agency and replacing ObamaCare, his budget proposal has gone further. Swecker said the potential impact of the Trump budget is felt everywhere. The Trump budget cuts could affect Amtrak service in the Shenandoah Valley, funding for Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport and other agencies.
Washington
Immigrant Communities Coming Together for May Day
Today is May Day, and Washingtonians are rallying with people across the country in support of laborers and immigrant communities. Otherwise known as International Workers' Day, May Day now is also associated with immigrants' rights. The Tri-Cities area has been planning May Day protests since the "Day Without Immigrants" protest in February, when every Latino-owned business in Pasco closed up shop. Organizer of the May Day march, David Cortinas of the Tri-Cities Latino Coalition, said he expects a similar response today. Washington state Democrats also are participating. Cedar Kennedy with the progressive caucus of the state Democratic Party is scheduled to speak. She said the new administration is harming immigrant communities of all kinds in central Washington. "Trump's agenda is not only terrorizing Latino farm workers, which we hear a lot about, but it's upsetting high-level workers as well,” Kennedy said. |
