by Kay B | May 5, 2020 | Democratic Party, Elections, Issues, Rappahannock County, RCDC business, Virginia |
Even though Joe Biden appears to be the presumptive Democratic Nominee, we have a long road ahead before it’s certain. After our Super Tuesday Primary, delegates go to the 5th District convention on May 9, and the State Conventions on June 20 to pick the delegates Virginia will send to the National Convention in Milwaukee on August 13.
This year both Virginia conventions will be held virtually.
The CD5 Convention on May 9 starts at 9AM. At 1PM, delegates will vote for 6 delegates to be National Delegates from Virginia.
To participate, register here:
https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/4953873135220740365
At the State Convention on June 20, delegates will pick 21 at-large National Delegates to go to the National Convention.
by Kay B | Apr 24, 2020 | Candidates, Candidates Forum, Democratic Party, Events, Rappahannock County, RCDC Events, Voting |
The Rappahannock Democratic Committee invites you to a virtual forum for 5th District’s candidates for U.S. Congress.
Click the following link for the official press release with photos: https://www.rappdems.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/RCDC-CD5-Forum-Press-Release.pdf
When: Tuesday, May 12th, at 6 pm.
Where: Live Streaming on Facebook and YouTube
The forum will be moderated by Leslie Cockburn, former Democratic 5th District candidate.
RD Huffstetler grew up in North Carolina and served as a sergeant in the U. S. Marine Corp in both Iraq and Afghanistan. With a Harvard MBA, he went to work in Silicon Valley. He now lives in Charlottesville with his wife, an OB-GYN, and daughter. Looks forward to “solving the challenges of the future” and pledges to improve the economy of “every community” in the 5th District.
John Lesinski of Rappahannock County. A Marine Corps colonel and one-time president of the county school board, he served as a member of the county Board of Supervisors. Successful in commercial real estate, John lives with his wife Heidi in Washington, VA. He promises better access to health care and broadband in the many rural communities of the 5th District.
Claire Russo is a veteran of the U. S. Marine Corps who served in Iraq, and later as a civilian employee of the U. S. Army in Afghanistan. “I was trained,” says Claire, “to run toward the fight” and she plans to put that same determination to work for her constituents especially when it comes to affordable health care. Claire lives in Earlysville with her husband and their three children.
Cameron Webb, a UVA grad with degrees in law and medicine, Dr Webb is Director of Health Policy and Equity at UVA’s School of Medicine. He pledges that “Common sense and fairness” come first. Then promises to put health care front and center when he is in Congress. Webb lives in Charlottesville with his wife Leigh-Ann, an ER doctor, and their children.
Participate in the discussion.
Submit your questions for candidates at Chair@RappDems.org
For more information contact: Mary-Sherman Willis at 540/987-8912 or send her an email.
by Kay B | Apr 9, 2020 | Candidates, Democratic Party, Elections, Virginia, Voting |
ABSENTEE VOTING IN 2020
NOTE: This letter didn’t reproduce well for the website. To view the original letter in its proper format, click here.
Due to the COVID19 outbreak in the
country, it’s imperative that we protect every Democrat’s right to vote in the June
9 Congressional Primary and the November 3 Election.
Kim
McKiernan, Rappahannock County Registrar, says: In an effort to
protect our voters, our election officials, and our staff, we are encouraging
voters to submit an application to vote absentee by mail (your ballot is mailed
to you) and to conduct all other business with the voter registration office
via telephone 540-675-5380 or email vote@rappahannockcountyva.gov
NOTE: There
are absentee ballot application forms and voter registration forms hanging on
the Registrar of Voters’ office door along with in-depth instructions.
Please
proceed to: https://vote.elections.virginia.gov/VoterInformation
- Complete the information for ‘registered voter’. (Note: if you are registering to vote, simply select ‘apply to register to vote’ on the left and follow those prompts. You are not required to re-register if you are already registered.)
- On the next screen, select “I want to apply for absentee voting.” Answer the questions on the next two screens.
- The screen following those two provides instructions for you to vote absentee due to social distancing. Select “I have a reason or condition that prevents me from going to the polls on Election Day”.
- Proceed to the next screen. Select the election for which you would like a ballot. (Note: We do not know yet whether the June Primary will be in-person or if it will be conducted virtually.) If you have no desire to vote in a June Primary, simply select November 2020. Then, as the instructions state, select ‘my disability or illness.’
a. BE SURE to provide your MAILING ADDRESS if it is different than your physical address!
b. If you want your ballot mailed to a different address, select “I would like my ballot delivered to a different address than my residence.” This includes post office boxes. If you do not provide a valid mailing address, your ballot will be returned to our office and you may miss the deadline to vote your ballot and return it to us.
c. BE SURE TO PROVIDE A PHONE NUMBER OR EMAIL ADDRESS in the ‘contact’ screen in the event we need to clarify anything about your application.
- At the Electronic Signature page, please (if you have a Virginia Driver’s License) provide the information requested, because that is how your application is signed electronically. If your application is not signed, we cannot process it.
a. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A VIRGINIA DRIVER’S LICENSE: Please print this form (you only need to submit page number 3). Write ‘2A’ in the required reason code area.
b. Be sure to sign your form and provide the mailing address.
c. Select the 5th Congressional District Congressional Primary on June 9 or select the November General on November 3, 2020.
d. Provide contact information.
e. You can mail, scan and email, or fax your completed form to us at:
P.O. Box
236, Washington, VA 22740
vote@rappahannockcountyva.gov
Fax:
540-675-5381
IMPORTANT DEADLINES
Monday, May
18Deadline to register to vote in the Congressional Primary.
Tuesday,
June 2Deadline to request an absentee ballot to be mailed to you by 5 pm
Tuesday June
95TH DISTRICT
CONGRESSIONAL PRIMARY
Tuesday
October 13Deadline to register to vote in the November General Election.
Tuesday
October 27Deadline to request an absentee ballot to be mailed to you by
5pm.
NOTE: in
the 2020 General Election, you don’t have to give a reason to vote
absentee.
Tuesday
November 3GENERAL ELECTION
by Kay B | Apr 9, 2020 | Democratic Party, Elections, Events, Rappahannock County, RCDC business, RCDC Events, RCDC Special Meetings, Voting |
April 8, 2020
Dear Rappahannock Democrats,
We missed seeing you at our last monthly get together,
cancelled for COVID19. Unfortunately, we will miss you again. Our scheduled
general meeting for April 11 is also cancelled to keep everyone distanced
and safe, following Governor Ralph Northam’s recommendations. They came not a
moment too soon. Sadly, our county reported its first confirmed case this week.
Distanced as we are, we have been busy and want to keep you informed
of events in the coming months.
- County delegates to the district, state,
and national Democratic conventions have until April 9 at 5 pm to send
in their pre-filing forms to the DPVA (Democratic Party of Virginia).
Based on your votes on Super Tuesday,
the county was allotted two delegates for Joe Biden and one for Bernie Sanders.
Even though Bernie has dropped
out of the race, his delegates will go to the conventions!
- To be a delegate to the 5th District Convention on May 9 and State Convention on Jun 20, click HERE for the form.
- To go on to the National Convention in August 17-20 in Milwaukee, click HERE to apply.
NOTE: Compared to other
counties in the CD5, Rappahannock has had a great turnout of delegate
applications! The DPVA has been accepting them all, for both candidates, to
cover the shortfall in other counties.
NOTE: Because of the
pandemic, the Party will decide, from moment to moment, whether to hold
in-person or virtual conventions. The 5th District Convention
will be held virtually. (Those details to come.)
- To find out more about delegate selection and
duties, click HERE.
- The 5th District Congressional
Primary is scheduled for June 9. We are urging you to vote
absentee by mail. It’s easy and complies with our distancing practices.
- I’ve attached Registrar Kim McKiernan’s
instructions and the deadlines to apply for and send in absentee ballots for
the June Congressional Primary and November General elections.
NOTE: Mail-in voting is going to be crucial this year for getting
out the vote! We’re planning phone banks, texts blasts, and socially distanced
postcard parties to get the word out, and to help voters get their ballots in.
We’ll need your help.
NOTE: We have four terrific candidates to run against Denver
Riggleman in November: RD Huffstetler, John Lesinski, Claire Russo, and Cameron
Webb. Instead of live forums to let voters meet the candidates, we’re
coordinating with other 5th District committees to hold virtual
forums in our localities. Ours is tentatively scheduled for May 12 at 6 pm, to
be moderated by former candidate Leslie Cockburn. (Details to come.)
- RCDC fundraising has become one of the
casualties of COVID19. Our April 4 Blue State Blue Grass Brunch and auction
were cancelled. The Yard Sale in August may be too. While our expenses will go
down, our income will too. As the season progresses, we’ll need to buy yard and
highway signs, and campaign ads. We appreciate any donations you’re able to
make along the way.
We want to thank everyone for your work and support, for
stepping up even as our world is upended by this invisible threat wreaking such
havoc to ourselves and our democracy. Thanks in particular to Ron Goodman,
Tommy Bruce, Larry Wohlers, and Rachel Taylor for representing us as delegates
to the State Convention (and beyond!).
Please send your questions and comments at maryswillis@me.com. We want to hear from
you! Keep up with our news at www.RappDems.org
and on our Facebook page.
Stay safe, stay engaged, and let us bring the light of
Democratic competence and compassion into this dark time.
Mary-Sherman Willis
RCDC, Chair
by Kay B | Mar 27, 2020 | Caucuses, Democratic Party, Rappahannock County, RCDC Special Meetings, Virginia |
In the altered reality of COVID-19, the Democratic election picture is coming into focus! To get either Joe Biden or Bernie Sanders to the White House, Democrats have to nominate one or the other. Here are the steps ahead for us in Virginia:
First, we Rapp Dems have to our select delegates to represent either Bernie Sanders or Joe Biden to ultimately go to the National Democratic Convention. Rapp has been allocated one Biden delegate and one Biden alternate delegate (to fill in if needed), and one Bernie delegate. Now we have to pick those delegates.
In normal times, Rapp Dems step up to become delegates and we’d hold a caucus at the Library to elect them them. Because of restrictions brought on by COVID-19, this year we’ll hold a virtual caucus.
Here’s what you need to do:
If you want to be a delegate or alternate for Bernie or Biden, submit this pre-filing form to the Democratic Committee of Virginia by April 9. You’ll need to pledge to one candidate.
To participate in picking the delegates (and we hope EVERYONE will!), submit this form to the Democratic Committee by April 9.
After April 9, the DPVA will let us know who has applied to be a delegate and who wants to participate in selecting delegates.
Then on April 20 we will hold our virtual caucus. All registered participants will receive an emailed ballot, which they will email back to us. We then notify the winners and send our results back to the DPVA.
On May 9 is the 5th Congressional District Convention to whittle down the local delegates to those who will go to the State Convention. This will also be held virtually. (Details to come.)
June 9 is the State Convention, where delegates will be picked to go to the National Convention. Chances are good that we’ll have to find a way to hold a virtual convention.
July 13-16 is the National Convention.
The DPVA and DNC are working hard to make the nominating process safe, inclusive, and transparent. The situation is still fluid, but now is the time to get involved!
It’s never been easier!
Questions? Email chair@RappDems.org or call 540/987-8912
