Celebrating and Still Urgently Organizing!
Wouldn't it be nice to just celebrate the WIN?
Dear Fellow Democrat,
Let's start with "The Win"... Our endorsed candidates ALL outperformed their challengers and in all but one race, they won outright. And not by a little... We should celebrate that amazing shift in power in Richardson. We supported Amir Omar for Mayor and he won by 13 percentage points (about 1600 votes!!). We recommended Arefin Shamsul for City Council Place 6 and he took 63% of the votes (outperformed his challenger by almost 2800 votes!). And we endorsed PISD Board of Trustee candidates Sam Johnson, who won 86% of the vote, Nancy Humphrey, who won 71% of the vote, and Elisa Klein, who won 57% of the vote in a 3 way race. Our dear friend and excellent RISD Board of Trustees District 2 incumbent, Vanessa Pacheco, got 358 more votes counted than her closest rival, but at this point is just .07% (4 votes!) short of an outright win in this race, so it may be going to a runoff. Still and all, Saturday was an enormous day for RAD, and for Democrats across our area and the State!! We deserve to celebrate.
What I take from this is that when the people are inspired, motivated and united, money and power have to step aside. Whether it's Wisconsin or Richardson, there are more of US than there are of them, and when we put our energy towards a common cause, we will prevail. I hope that you take heart from that, because these times give constant cause for despair, and we need all the encouragement we can get. Working together towards a worthy goal is our power. We Are America. This is Our country, and this is Our state, and this is OUR city.
But we do NOT have the luxury of relaxing. We have to make SURE that Vanessa gets across that finish line! Vanessa has been a strong voice for the students and teachers of RISD for three years. In a world where consensus is expected, she speaks out for her constituents. The fact that she is willing and ready to continue to serve in an unpaid, demanding, volunteer role as a Trustee for the schools, in a time that these servant leaders are being attacked and vilified, given more and more unreasonable demands from the state and less support with the newly minted voucher bill, speaks volumes about her dedication to the mission. We are going to be organizing an army to get out the vote, so please sign up here to find out where you can plug in. She was shy of winning outright by only FOUR VOTES. We can do this, and this is a Loud and Clear message that Every Vote Counts!!
Of course, there are other "little fires everywhere," and they are not really little at All. We have a lot of work to do, y'all. A couple of months back, we helped Texas Impact with a post card campaign to advocate for SB31, a bill that would clarify the medical exceptions to the draconian Texas abortion ban, so that fewer women would be at risk of dying due to complications with their pregnancy. RAD came together and delivered hundreds of signatures which were submitted to the legislators. That bill was passed in the Senate last week and that could give some small amount of relief- far from what is needed, but it was something. Now the same Senator is proposing another bill, SB2880, a complex bill that would crackdown on abortion pills, out-of-state abortions, and would allow private citizens to sue for at least $100,000 per violation of the law. There's even more dangerous implications in this bill for religious freedom, including anything the state doesn't like that religious organizations do - like helping immigrants or the LGBTQ youth. It's a heinous bill. PLEASE reach out to your representative and demand that they vote against it. If SB31 passes before SB2880, 2880 will make 31 null and void, as it potentially resurrects the 1925 law that allows for criminal penalties - up to 2-5 years in prison, and does not exempt pregnant women from prosecution. As I said, this is an extraordinarily complex bill - purposefully so. Please call your representatives.
Another shocking development in the Texas lege this week, if it's even still possible to be shocked, is where HB2 - the bill that would (modestly) increase school funding and was easily passed in the House, is sitting... which is NOT on the calendar in the Senate. Time is running out in this session and if they hold this bill hostage to get Democrats to pass all their other terrorist agenda, the session could end again, like in 2023, with no increase to school funding. Worse, this time, they passed the voucher bill and that will TAKE money from public education. We've seen the impact this past year with multiple schools closing due to not having enough funds. We've GOT to reach out to our representatives and urge them to fully fund public education.
Finally... DON'T FORGET OUR MONTHLY HAPPY HOUR!! We meet every third Thursday of the month and this month it has come around early! Next Thursday, the 15th, we'll be at our favorite brewery, Four Bullets! SIGN UP HERE for details!
One More Thing ~~ We have a make up Nature Hike with Amy Martin (of Wild DFW!) on Saturday, the 17th! We'll meet at Connemara Meadows in Plano at 9:30 for a two-hour tour. Space is limited, so sign up now!
~ See You Soon ~
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Once again, if you haven't done so yet, we invite you to join or renew your membership in Richardson Area Democrats. Your suggested donation of $10/month will help us continue to build this inclusive community! Thanks for all you do.
