23rd ld Democrats News

Hi all,

Passing this along. It is interesting reading. Something to keep in mind as we move forward. Have a good weekend,

Val Torrens, 23rd LD Chair

From: Drew Estep <drew@wa-democrats.org> 
Sent: Wednesday, December 2, 2020 4:02 PM
To: wsdcc@wa-democrats.org; cvc@wa-democrats.org; exec@wa-democrats.org; ccc@wa-democrats.org
Cc: Staff <staff@wa-democrats.org>; Tina Podlodowski <tina@wa-democrats.org>; Karen Deal <kdeal@wa-democrats.org>
Subject: LPO Leadership Survey Results & SCM Overview for New Members

Happy December Democrats! 

Welcome to the beginning of Local and State Party Reorganization!

First off, I know that many of you have sent me your reorganization dates, and thank you for that! You can find a calendar of reorganizations on our website under the LPO section here. If your district isn’t on that list I need that information ASAP. If you would like a join link or other logistical information added please let me know and I can add that in to the State Party website as well!

Additionally, as promised, we wanted to provide everyone with the full report out of the LPO leadership survey at a state level. It’s attached below. 

As a reminder, the data beyond what is in this report is not viewable by State Party Staff or the Chair. Additionally, any responses have already been dissociated from any identifying information related to respondents, so my ability to give you more detail than what is provided in this report will be limited. 

I also want to caution folks to remember that this is a sampling. We had slightly below a 50% response rate for the leadership level survey. (Remember, this is different than the PCO survey which will be released in the coming weeks).

As a result we are working in the aggregate with this data, but it should provide a significantly interesting context for your re-organization meetings. As a reminder, we always strive to have our Party leadership at least reflect the make up of our electorate, which as defined in our Delegate Selection and Affirmative Action Plan for 2020 is below:

As of this writing, our State Party Executive Committee is comprised of 57.7% from the African American, Hispanic, Enrolled Native American and AAPI categories and 30.7% from LGBTQ and Disabilities categories.

Change doesn’t happen overnight, but do thoughtfully consider who you may have ready to step up into a leadership role in your local organization.

These numbers and the leadership survey represent the state aggregate (but at only 50%), but you’ll note right away that we have a lot of work to do in all of these categories to bring cumulative local party leadership better in-line with our electorate - and, only local organizations can make those choices about who to elect to send to the State Committee and serve as Chairs, Vice Chairs, etc.

As you’re going into your reorganization meetings this month and next, please keep this in mind. Our Party works best when the people it represents are reflected in their leadership. If you have the opportunity to promote, support or encourage anyone, now is the time to do it, and we hope having some data to back it up helps each district consider an inclusive leadership team. 

Additionally, we wanted to provide a high level “The State Party and Central Committee” for you to share with your districts and those stepping up to run to represent your district on the Central Committee. It’s meant to be a brief introduction to the role of the State Party and some of the best ways to be successful as a Central Committee Member. For those of you who are returning members this document likely won’t contain any shocking revelations, but it’s a good introduction for anyone considering a run for the position, and is likely a good refresher for everyone regardless to consider your performance as a member.

Please let me know if you have any questions about either of these materials and thank you,

Drew

-- Drew Estep | Party Affairs Director

(He | Him | His) 

615 2nd Ave., Suite 580, Seattle, WA 98104
Office | (206) 583-0664 Ext. 124 Cell | (406) 529-4552
-- 

Leadership Survey

From: Tina Podlodowski <chair@wa-democrats.org> 

Sent: Wednesday, November 25, 2020 1:20 PM
To: Chairs and Vice Chairs <cvc@wa-democrats.org>; Washington State Democratic Central Committee <wsdcc@wa-democrats.org>
Subject: Please Join us for an End of Year Celebration!

Hello Democrats,

I’m reaching out today to express my sincere gratitude for your powerful work to elect a diverse coalition of Democrats up and down the ballot this year. I am grateful to say that we are one major step closer to ensuring that hate and division have no place in our country or its leadership.

Despite battling a worldwide pandemic, we were able to work together to build the most robust, efficient virtual organizing program in the nation, win races up and down the ballot for Democrats and build lasting infrastructure to ensure progressive values will be front and center in WA policy for years to come. To kick off the election cycle, we would like to extend an invitation to each of our amazing members to a virtual discussion with myself and some of our incredible Washington State elected officials. 

Please join us for a virtual discussion with Senator-Elect T’Wina Nobles, Rep. Debra Entenman, Rep-Elect April Berg, and Congresswoman-Elect Marilyn Strickland!

 

Monday December 7th 

6:30pm-7:30pm

Zoom Link Provided Upon RSVP

 

Suggested Contribution Levels

$25 | $50 | $100

Please RSVP here: https://act.myngp.com/Forms/-8552755246729787648

We are excited to chat with these legislators about their experiences and how their diverse backgrounds make them so well equipped to address the issues that Washington State is facing today. Your work has played an enormous role in helping us to elect the most diverse coalition of Democratic leadership ever seen, and we can’t wait  to witness the powerful impact that diversifying our leadership will have on catalyzing economic recovery as we rebuild a stronger, more resilient Washington emerging from this unprecedented pandemic.

We can’t overstate how much we appreciate your efforts and as a strong Party partner, we hope you will join us for our last event of the year on December 7th at 6:30pm!

Please direct all questions to Joe Barden - at joebarden@wa-democrats.org.

Thank you for making our work possible - we couldn't accomplish what we do without you and we are so grateful!

With Gratitude,

Tina

From: Drew Estep <drew@wa-democrats.org> 

Sent: Tuesday, November 24, 2020 10:40 AM

Subject: PCO Survey Update

Good morning Democrats,

Please be aware that this is one of THREE emails you’ll receive before the Thanksgiving holiday; the other two will address two different topics:

- an upcoming committee-wide listening session and initial Diversity, Equity and Inclusion discussion on December 6th at 12pm and;

- additional guidance on auditing ballots for your reorganizations. 

We know this can be a busy time for some and a time of recovery for others, so please keep an eye on your inbox to make sure you don’t miss either of those emails, and wanted to get the listening session date on your calendar as soon as possible.

For this email we wanted to let you know that our consulting team have finished tabulating the total participation of the PCO response to surveys, and we wanted to thank all of you for your work to make the process a success!

We had 2,352 PCOs out of a possible universe of 3,794 respond to the survey, for a total participation rate of 62%. This also means we’re ready to begin the process of distributing the incentive rewards to districts as our consulting team distills a lot of great data!. 

First up we want to give a hearty congratulations to the Legislative Districts that successfully hit our initial goal of 85% and will be receiving the full $1,000 incentive reward; LD’s 5, 13, 14, 25, 30 and 35. We know how hard each of your districts hustled to get to the completion rate here, and know that we so value you input to the process!

However, we also know that many other districts worked equally as hard and came up short through circumstances completely outside of their control. Because of this, Tina, Heather and I “huddled”, and we’ll also be distributing partial rewards depending on district performance to every single LD - after all, 2,352 responses is pretty amazing.

The amounts and districts are outlined below:

• If your district had PCOs participate, but did not hit the Statewide average of 62%, your district will receive $500. These districts are 2, 3, 8, 10, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18, 27, 29, 32, 33, 36, 42, 43, 45, 46, 48, 49 

• If your district performed above the Statewide average of 62%, but missed the original goal of 85%, you’ll be receiving $750. These districts are 1, 4, 6, 7, 9, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 28, 31, 34, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 44, 47.

• And, of course, as said above, the districts that made it to the full 85% and will be receiving the full $1000 are 5, 13, 14, 25, 30 and 35. 

Congratulations to each of your districts, we know many of your worked incredibly hard to make this a success.

Heather should already have all of your districts information for disbursing funds, but we may reach out if there is any additional information necessary. For example, if you are a mini-filer, you may wish to delay disbursement until 2021, or, you may wish us to send the check to your county organization instead. Please contact Heather ASAP if so.

And again. next steps here are that our consulting team are working on the aggregate data to put together a report and decide a decision process on next steps. Also, we have almost finalized the report on the LPO leadership survey. 

We expect to be able to share the LPO leadership survey results with everyone early next week, and the PCO results within the next 2-4 weeks. 

Keep an eye out for TWO MORE more emails this week before Thanksgiving and thank you again!

Drew

PS - have you let me know your reorganization date and information? If not please do today! Thank you!

--

Drew Estep | Party Affairs Director
(He | Him | His) 

615 2nd Ave., Suite 580, Seattle, WA 98104
Office | (206) 583-0664 Ext. 124 Cell | (406) 529-4552

Ultimately,  we are on the same team and want our great country to thrive, restore the American dream and return to sanity.  It's deeply troubling that the blame game has already started.

If I understand the moderate view correctly, getting along and working across the aisle, not rocking the boat and for heaven's sake stop talking about far-left views such as the Green New Deal and Medicare for all because that approach cost us the senate and limited the house. 

If you look at the issues and candidates that won though, a different picture arises.  Just a few years ago a $15 an hour minimum wage was considered far left and impossible.  Florida voted for a $15 minimum wage and at least 7 other states are contemplating it in the near future.  Four states;  Montana, South Dakota, New Jersey and Arizona have legalized recreational marijuana and Mississippi voted to reclassify it and make medicinal marijuana legal.

Arizona passed a 3.5% tax on residents making more than $250,000 a year to prop up their schools and teachers pay.

Utah and Nebraska both overwhelmingly voted to end slavery as a potential punishment for committing a crime.  Hard to believe it was still on the books.

The most outspoken and unapologetic progressives like Cori Bush in Missouri,  all four of "The Squad" and Jamal Bowman all won easily.  Mondaire Jones and Ritchie Torres became the first openly LGBTQ black members of the US Congress.  Sarah McBride became the first transgender state senator in United states history.  Stephanie Byers became Kansas's first trans legislator, Jabari Brisport, the first LGBTQ person of color elected to the New York State Legislature.  Kim Jackson became Georgia's first openly LGBTQ State Senator Torrey Harris and Eddie Mannis, first LGBTQ legislators elected in Tennessee.  Shevrin Jones and Michael Raynor-Goolsby, first openly LGBTQ lawmakers in Florida.  Taylor Small first openly trans member of the Vermont legislature.  All progressives running in swing states won their elections.

Generation Z and Millennials very soon will be the largest voting bloc and we will absolutely need them in the mid-terms.  While we're making nice, their future is diminishing.  How likely will they be to even vote if we don't treat their very real concerns with "house on fire" boldness it deserves. 

Besides, we already tried making nice for 8 years under Barack Obama.  With all of that capitulation, we lost over 1000 seats. 

The Country has spoken and Biden has broken record for most votes in history for any presidential candidate.

If they won, they would call it a mandate and do whatever extreme non inclusive laws they could shove down our throats.  Somehow that has appeal.  If we were bold,  we wouldn't appear weak and ineffective.

Hallette Salazar

Letter from Katherine Lewis:

The effects of Climate Change and environmental destruction are real and are occurring locally!   Kitsap County water, air, and land that used to bustle with life are sadly emptier as more people move here and as general deregulation of commerce has been widely implemented in the last fifty years and is increasing under Trump’s administration. Beaches and streams that were full of life when I grew up here in the sixties are much more barren, birds flock less here, and Olympic and Cascade glaciers are missing, yet Republicans still continue with systems and ways of doing things that destroy the resources we live within, and Democrats are continually playing catch-up and clean-up. We must change agricultural, logging, and transportation systems to reflect what we know now! We must act locally and act globally too.

 For instance, modern agricultural industrial practices in Washington, developed over the last fifty years, have poisoned and depleted our soil and won't continue to produce a sustainable economic frame going forward, no matter how the government props up the current methods. Research shows that soil not naturally fertilized, but instead chemically fertilized, becomes depleted of organisms which would otherwise do the work of helping to recycle carbon-dioxide.  In addition, the current method of raising animals for food in a factory manner directly increases climate change because the methane gases produced there aren’t diffused naturally. Likewise, and this does concern us locally in Kitsap County, clear-cutting profits the timber industry, but helps deplete climate protections created by living trees. 

All these practices are relatively recent and can change for the better, given what we know now!

Instead of continuing free-form consumption of the planet's lifeforms for the sake of profit, we can come together to face the problems and work together to fix them! To find out more about this information, please see the Netflix movie, “Kiss the Ground.”  And please discuss these issues with leaders who will take on these problems instead of denying them!

From: Will Casey <will@wa-democrats.org> 

Sent: Monday, October 26, 2020 11:59 AM
To: Chairs and Vice Chairs <CVC@wa-democrats.org>; Washington State Democratic Central Committee <WSDCC@wa-democrats.org>
Cc: Tina Podlodowski <tina@wa-democrats.org>; Kerri Ebanks <kerri@wa-democrats.org>; Drew Estep <drew@wa-democrats.org>
Subject: A quick note from Gov. Inslee!

Hey everyone,

With just 8 days left, Governor Inslee has a very important message for us all -- it's time to get out the vote! We need every shift filled for our team on the Coordinated Campaign that we can get, so please share the Governor's video on your social media channels today and ask your members (if they haven't already) to sign up for a shift reaching out to voters at wa-democrats.org/organizingevents.

Thanks for all you do to elect Democrats!

Best,

Will

-- 

Will Casey|Communications Director (he / him / his)

Washington State Democrats|615 2nd Ave., Suite 580, Seattle, WA 98104

Office|206.583.0664 Ext. 121 

 

Dear Democrats,

Some good news and some potentially troubling news….

First off, our coordinated volunteer phone efforts are really paying off! This is thanks to all of you and so appreciated!  For example, 

We are at over DOUBLE total phone calls right now than we were at this point in 2016 and ALMOST DOUBLE for 2018. After the dialer last night, this is how we stack up to attempts at this point in 2016 and 2018:

• 2020: 2.17 million calls
• 2018: 1.21 million calls
• 2016: 801K calls

Second, we should start to receive statewide matchback files beginning this evening - as you know not every County updates their files nightly, however many of the largest ones do. So stay tuned for matchback report availability soon. From early balloting so far we are seeing return %s as follows:

• Thurston: 26.78%
• Spokane: 17.80%
• Statewide: 2.74%

HOWEVER, there is an initial troubling trend that has low-propensity GOP voters turning out at almost DOUBLE the rate of low-propensity Democratic voters. For now. 

So I’m raising a yellow flag to please ask you and you LPOs and organizations to join us for more phone shifts in the last 14 days - again, the Presidential campaign is not making ANY calls into Washington State, so if we want to turn out voters who have democratic preference, gong all the way to new, or zero propensity voters, then the Coordinated Campaign is the only place to make that happen with the correct and latest data.

You know Trump and Culp are gonna turn out their voters, right?

We also know that with 14 days to go many folks are seeing the potential for record turnout and may start to think “we go this” - we don’t. We are starting to see “flake rates” on phone banks creep as high as 50% and that worries me a lot - we will have so many close races around the State, and we cannot afford to lose a single vote.

No one nationally or from another state is coming to our “rescue” - so please be the hero you have been for the last four years and add a few more stars to your cape with a few more phone bank shifts for you, and your volunteers - we absolutely need the help! Really!

Go here, or talk to your RFD: https://www.wa-democrats.org/organizingevents/. We are on the dialer exclusively now - 3 shifts a day. Every day.

Thanks, and we will keep your updated - Tina

Tina Podlodowski, Chair, Washington State Democrats

(she|her|hers)

  

Washington State Democratic Party’s Coordinated Campaign Celebrates One Million Calls to General Election Voters

Since the 2020 August primary, our Coordinated Campaign has led thousands of volunteers in making more than a million calls to get-out-the-vote this year. 

For Immediate Release | October 20, 2020

 

SEATTLE — With just 14 days left in the 2020 General Election voting period, the Washington State Democratic Party is working nonstop to reach voters and elect Democrats up and down the ballot across Washington state. Since the 2020 August primary, our Coordinated Campaign has trained thousands of volunteers, hosted more than ten thousand volunteer shifts, and has made more than one million calls to voters across the state. In total, our volunteers have made more than two million calls since our transition to responsible remote volunteering in March as our Coordinated Campaign led Democratic State Parties nationally in innovating and adapting to organizing safely during the pandemic.

This is the most critical election in our lifetime. We are just two weeks away from November 3rd, and Washington voters are shattering 2016 records for ballots received during the first week of ballot drop boxes being open. We are making tremendous strides in our efforts to get-out-the-vote despite the unprecedented challenges of running an entirely virtual campaign. Every day from now through November 3rd, our organizers will be leading volunteers in regional phone banks reaching out to their neighbors to make sure they return their ballots as early as possible.

If Washingtonians have any questions about voting, they can reach our voter protection hotline at (206) 309-VOTE (8683). Our voter protection hotline is operated by volunteer attorneys familiar with the Washington state election process and are ready to answer any question a voter might have about making their voice heard in this critical election. 

“There is so much at stake on the ballot this year, and we are pulling out all of the stops to make sure Democrats in Washington win with record voter turnout in every race up and down the ballot,” said Tina Podlodowski, Chair of the Washington State Democratic Party. “In Washington state, every day that ballot drop boxes are open is Election day — we’re in this for the long run. I am extremely proud of our organizers and volunteers that have worked so hard since the August primary to make sure voters in Washington turn out the vote for Democratic values.”

###

-- 

Will Casey|Communications Director (he / him / his)

Washington State Democrats|615 2nd Ave., Suite 580, Seattle, WA 98104

Office|206.583.0664 Ext. 121 

Unclear Disclaimer in Secretary of State’s Website Leads to Confusion About Downloadable Ballots

Despite rumors on alt-right social media, this design flaw does not present a serious risk to the integrity of Washington’s election results

For Immediate Release | October 19, 2020

SEATTLE -- Right-wing media outlets have irresponsibly reported false claims from anonymous social media users on the alt-right platform 4chan that they could “cancel” voters’ ballots in Washington state. This is simply not true, as County Election Offices are required to process the original ballot regardless of any subsequent illegitimate ballot being sent according to WAC 434-250-080. Once a ballot has been accepted, no other ballot can be accepted or printed for that voter. These measures will ensure that signed, sealed ballots with signatures that match voters’ records on file with their county elections auditor’s office will be counted regardless of any malfeasance from bad actors as described by conspiracy theorists on 4chan.

The source of this misinformation is misleading language on the VoteWA website claiming that a voter’s ballot will be “canceled” if a replacement ballot is downloaded. In fact, simply downloading a replacement ballot does not cancel or otherwise invalidate a properly signed, sealed, and signature-matched ballot.

Each county auditor’s office has been made aware of this issue and the election integrity measures in place to keep our ballots safe and secure will keep this design flaw from affecting actual votes. The only consequences of this design flaw could be increased confusion for voters and workload increases for already-burdened county auditors resulting in a potential delay in the reporting of accurate and complete results of the election, which Washingtonians deserve to know as soon as possible.

“Voters in Washington state should know one thing: despite this confusing and misleading information on the VoteWA website, there is no danger to your vote being counted,” said Tina Podlodowski, Chair of the Washington State Democratic Party. “We are monitoring the situation closely, and any voter who is concerned about this issue -- or has any other questions about voting -- can call our voter protection hotline at 206-309-VOTE.”

###

-- 

Will Casey|Communications Director (he / him / his)

Washington State Democrats|615 2nd Ave., Suite 580, Seattle, WA 98104

Office|206.583.0664 Ext. 121 

This candidate was endorsed by the 23rd LD Democrats and was a speaker at our Annual Salmon Dinner.

From: Committee to Keep Justice Whitener <keepwhitenerforjustice@gmail.com> 

Sent: Wednesday, October 14, 2020 10:31 AM
To: Val Torrens <chair@kitsap23rd.com>
Subject: Please SHARE with your Membership

Hi Val,

Thank you for your endorsement of Justice Whitener.  Ballots are hitting mailboxes this week so it's important for voters to know how EXCEPTIONALLY WELL QUALIFIED Justice Whitener is.  

Please share:  http://www.votingforjudges.org/20gen/supreme/6hw.html for an independent and unbiased view of the candidates in this race.

Thanks again.

Lynn

Committee to Keep Justice Whitener

PO Box 23037

Seattle, WA 98102