Author: Carroll County Democrats

Hassan to attend; Pappas and Custer have been invited!

Happy 2022!  All of us in your Carroll County Democratic Committee are working hard to help bring more sanity, safety & hope to our state in this coming year.  And we encourage you to join us in our work! There are so many ways in which you can get involved.  Write a letter to the editor in your local paper.  Reach out to your Town Chair and ask how you can help.  Send a letter of thanks to your Democratic State Representatives, who are doing great work in very difficult circumstances.  Engage your friends and neighbors in discussions about the importance of their involvement, especially in the upcoming election season.  Contribute to your CCDC! Thanks for staying involved, Ed Butler, CCDC Chair

1. Carroll County Membership Zoom meeting Tuesday, 1/25, 6PM. Register here in advance for this meeting.  After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
   We’ll have updates from our state Reps, from our congressional offices and … Senator Hassan will join our meeting!  And both Congressfolks have been invited.  Our state and regional directors of the Coordinated Campaign will also give us an update.
2. The NH Senate is still discussing the Senate and Executive Council redistricting.  They will also approve – or not?? – the House and Congressional districts approved by the House.  Here’s a good overview of the process. And an NHPR report on the congressional gerrymander.
3. Senator Hassan’s campaign website.  Have you signed up for periodic notices?
4. Congressman Pappas’ campaign website.
5. Congresswoman Kuster’s campaign website.
6. Please help us grow our reach.  Are you signed up on our FaceBook page?  Ask a couple of friends to sign up too!  And please encourage your friends to sign up for these newsletters.
7. The NH Democratic Coordinated Campaign is hiring Organizing Fellows. 15 hours per week to canvass, phone bank and help the NHDP win up and down the ticket. Local folks young and not-so-young will help us focus the party on our races!  Click here.
8. Did you see?!  Open Democracy, dedicated to reducing the influence of big money in politics has a great new way of supporting or showing that you’re against particular bills. Check it out!
9. Phone & Text Banks, supporting our candidates and encouraging citizens to get involved in the upcoming elections are already happening.  Want to help?  Organize NH.
10. How to get more involved: Contact your Town or County Chair. https://www.nhdp.org/counties-and-towns

Thanks for your support!

The pandemic and how we as a national community are trying to fight it has become a political issue due to the most right-wing members go the GOP and the enabling of those right wingers by the self-proclaimed centrist or moderate GOP members like Karen Umberger (GOP Rep of Conway) and Mark McConkey (GOP Rep of Freedom). The stunning lack of an understanding of the big picture and common good by the GOP is not just sad — but literally tragic.

Kudos to State Rep. Jerry Knirk for a great column in today’s Conway Daily Sun which can help us all think about what we’re up against (DEC 30). Check it out – by clicking here

One (Tonight — NOV 16)

Tonight, November 16, in Moultonborough — the Tri Town DEMs will host an event that highlights what is happening with the Free Staters here in NH. Guest speaker is Zandra Rice Hawkins. As DEMs are working to hold on to normalcy, GOP “centrists” like Karen Umberger (Conway) and Mark McConkey (Freedom) are enabling the “No Government Is Good Government” lousiness. Mr. Sununu himself has lamented that his fellow Republicans are falling prey to the conspiracy theories and misinformation coming from the Free Staters and others. Learn more about tonight’s event at the Moultonborough Library which starts at 7 PM by clicking: HERE.

Two

Mike Cryans to Greater Ossipee DEMs

November 22 on Zoom — The Greater Ossipee DEMs will welcome Mike Cryans as folks in Carroll County wonder about the power of the Executive Council and the recent weirdness involving councilor Joe Kenney having voted to reject the $27M in federal Covid funds making NH the only state in the country to go without. Thankfully, the Governor and reasonable ones coaxed and dragged Mr. Kenney back to the table where he was strong-armed into accepting $22M. Mr. Cryans is a former executive councilor and will share with us and answer questions. To learn more and to request the Zoom link, click HERE.

Three

Representative Bill Marsh, from the southern floterial House district in our County which includes Brookfield, Effingham, Ossipee, Wakefield, Moultonborough, Sandwich, and Tuftonboro. He has been active in various efforts and discussions since that change.  We’re looking forward to working with him as he represents us from this side of the aisle in the coming legislative year. Check out a Huffington Post interview with Bill by clicking HERE.

Four

Local elected officials and grassroots activists have been doing great work.  On the day for the National Women’s March, the Tri-Town Dems had a great visibility demonstration in Center Harbor … a challenging LTE (letter to the editor) from Knute Ogren HERE …  Representative Anita Burroughs wonders about the “Free State Project: Follow the Money!” … and Representative Jerry Knirk has been writing a number of great editorials, too, like this THIS important one on Covid and the GOP’s bad policy.

Five

Redistricting — And we’re all anxious to see what happens with the new redistricting maps!  It looks like the Republican majority of the Committee will push through a very gerrymandered district to make it much more difficult for Congressman Pappas to win another term.  And our local State representative districts are, in most instances, going to be much different.  Ellen Farnum, Town Chair from Tamworth, has been leading a small group of locals to try to give regular feedback and input on the maps.  You can see here the proposed maps from the Democratic/Minority and the Republican/Majority Committee members.

Six

The Senate Seat — Chris Sununu is not going to run for the Senate against Maggie Hassan!  He will instead seek another term as our Governor – which, of course, we are going to deny him!!!  Yes, he’s a strong candidate but did you see CCDC Executive Committee Member Leonard Witt’s article in the Laconia SUN?  The LTE makes a good case for why we can win, with a good candidate, in this next Gubernatorial race! Hassan’s campaign office made this statement after Sunono’s announcement: “Senator Hassan won her last race by 1,017 votes, and we know that no matter who emerges as the Republican nominee this is going to be a hard-fought race. The Senator has shown that she can work across the aisle to get results for Granite Staters — and that is why she has a record of winning tough races. Our campaign is ready for the challenge ahead.”

Seven

Can you add 3/three/tres/trois/drei/tin … names to our Carroll County Democrats list? Please?! This newsletter is going out to just over 800 Democrats in our county.  There were 16,649 Democratic votes for Biden in the 2020 election.  You, or those friends you’re going to add to the list, can sign up here.

Eight

Facebook — Please remember to “like” and comment on the Carroll County NH Democrats Facebook page. Please encourage your like-minded friends & neighbors to do so as well! Our posts will show on your newsfeed 😉 FACEBOOK

Nine

Financial Support — And as always, we appreciate your donations to help elect our Democratic candidates and promote Democratic values – Please click, CONTRIBUTE or mail a check to Carroll County Democrats PO Box 337 Conway, NH 03818. Monthly contributions are very helpful.  If you can find your way to making a monthly contribution, it will be very much appreciated.

Ten

We’re fired up & working hard to return our state to a Democratic majority; to make it clear to the Free Staters that we’re going to resist their impact on our communities; to undo the damage of the Trump era; and to return our politics to one of respect for each other.

Thanks for paying attention.
Let me know what you’re thinking!

Ed Butler
CC DEMs chairperson
EMAIL ME

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to learn about what the Free Staters are doing to this wonderful state of ours. This is not a new concern, by any means. But it’s a concern that is getting more serious with each passing year. The Tri-Town DEMs have invited Zandra Rice Hawkins of Concord to be the featured speaker at their November 16th meeting. They are meeting in-person at Moultonborough Library. Learn More

Consider making a small gift in support of the work of Carroll County DEMs. If everyone makes a small gift every once in a while, we will have all the money we need to be a wonderful support to our 2022 candidates. Click: contribute

When Executive Councilor Joe Kenney voted “NO” on the $27 Million from Washington DC to help with, among other things, vaccinations and other Covid necessities — even GOP Governor Sununu labeled Kenney and his colleagues believers of conspiracy theories. When Kenney bested Cryans in 2020, we did not know that Kenney would be championing ignorance. Join Mike Cryans and the Greater Ossipee DEMs to learn about the Executive Council, why we need a DEM to represent us, and why saying “NO” to those Covid funds have put NH in a pickle. To get your Zoom link for MON, NOV 22 at 7 PM, contact: Knute

Consider making a small gift in support of the work of Carroll County DEMs. If everyone makes a small gift every once in a while, we will have all the money we need to be a wonderful support to our 2022 candidates. Click: contribute

And it’s never a bad time to be sure that you are registered to vote here in our beautiful state! Here in Carroll County, we have exceedingly helpful folks in our town offices. But you might benefit from taking a look here:

https://sos.nh.gov/elections/information/faqs/how-to-register-to-vote/

Join with others from throughout Carroll County for the biennial caucus taking place via Zoom. The leadership of the county is putting forward a list of folks who have the gifts, the passion, and the understanding to move us forward during this upcoming two year cycle. The list:

For Chair — Ed Butler of Hart’s Location

For Vice Chair — Theresa Swanick of Effingham

For Secretary — Annie Robbins of Wakefield

For Treasurer — Bill McKay of Tamworth

For At Large Members — Edie DesMarais of Wolfeboro, Leonard Witt of Sandwich, & Erik Corbett (of Conway).

To participate in tonight’s caucus at 7 PM, you must request the link by 6 PM by clicking HERE. The Zoom meeting is being hosted by the New Hampshire Democratic Party in Concord.

We are thrilled that we will receive greetings from Senator Maggie Hassan who will be with us at 7 PM — sharp!

To attend the caucus, you must be a registered DEM living in Carroll County and you must request the link for the caucus by clicking HERE. The New Hampshire Democratic Party leaders in Concord are handling all the Zoom logistics for the county caucus.

We are so pleased that Sen. Maggie Hassan has accepted our invitation to visit with us for a few minutes (assuming there is no legislative floor vote or some other important concern that would pull her away).

The present leadership team of Carroll County DEMs have worked to identify a team of nominees that we think are a great fit for the needs of Carroll County in the next two years. We unanimously endorse the nominees that are listed here:

For Chair: Ed Butler of Hart’s Location
For Vice: Theresa Swanick of Effingham
For Sec.: Annie Robbins of Wakefield
For Treas: Bill McKay of Tamworth
At-Large 1: Edie DesMarais of Wolfeboro
At-Large 2: Leonard Witt of Sandwich
At-Large 3: Erik Corbett of Conway

We believe these people have the skills necessary.
We believe it’s a HUGE bonus that they are from throughout the whole county.
We believe that this team can move us from “pretty good” to “wicked awesome” as a county.

There are opportunities for nominations to be made from “the floor.”
And if you or someone you know would be a good fit — please nominate!!

But … knowing that Zoom meetings make it tough for this kind of thing, the present leadership team wanted to put forward a group of people — and all have said YES (assuming you elect them).

The agenda for the evening will be:

Greetings from Sen. Hassan
Update from State Chair Ray Buckley
The Caucus (electing leaders for the next two year cycle)
Report from out-going chair Knute Ogren
Report from Treasurer Bill McKay about our account balance.
Brief remarks from new leaders

Please join the caucus.
We’ve come a long way in the last couple of years. 
And we are still cooking!!

One more time — Get your CAUCUS ZOOM LINK

Questions? Contact Knute at knute4nh@yahoo.com
Thanks very much!
Be good.

PS: If you haven’t made a contribution to the Carroll County DEMs in a little bit, please consider doing so. If everyone gives a little bit here and and little bit there, we’ll have plenty to help our local candidates come 2022! You can do your part by clicking HERE

Request the Zoom link by emailing knute4nh@yahoo.com. The training will go for about an hour and it will cover pros and cons of having a checking account, what to think about regarding having an account for a regional group, and how to learn from mistakes made in the past. Many thanks to the Carroll County Treasurer, Bill McKay, for his excellent stewardship and care of our funds — and for his willingness to help others learn.

And … don’t forget the Carroll County Caucus — May 24 at 7:00 PM. If you haven’t yet signed up to participate in the biennial Carroll County Caucus (via Zoom on May 24), you need to sign up — not with Knute — but with the NHDP. We’ll be electing leadership for the coming two years. Here’s that link: CAUCUS ZOOM REQUEST.

May 3: There was a great Zoom event for those who were elected to an officer position in the towns of Carroll County. We’ll be doing this again!

May 9: Mother’s Day. Buy a card. Make a call. Remember those for whom the day is difficult for any number of reasons.

May 10: A forum and fundraiser for DEMs in NH with special guests Emily Cain of “EMILY’s List” and NH State Senator Martha Fuller Clark focussed on *Protecting Reproductive Rights” here in NH and beyond. $25 Ticket

May 24: The biennial County Caucus on Zoom (7 PM) … electing leaders for the upcoming 2 years. We need all DEMs from Carroll County to participate. Zoom Link

May 31: Get ready for Pride Month which begins on June 1!