DWC Wins Big in the Primary Election!

WHAT A WEEK!  In a groundbreaking primary season with more women running both locally and nationally than ever before,  women candidates in Monroe County emerged victorious. Even more gratifying, in every primary race where the DWC had an endorsed candidate, our candidate won! What a spectacular showing, due entirely to the strength and quality of the candidates, their incredibly hard work, and the depth and persistence of their support crews. Give a rouse to the following fabulous women who will now move on to the fall elections!

Penny Githens: State Rep, District 60

Amy Swain: State Rep, District 62

Christine Talley-Haseman: Judge (Seat 2)

Catherine Stafford: Judge (Seat 3)

Darcie Fawcett: Judge (Seat 8)

Nicole Brown: County Clerk

Lee Jones: County Commissioner

Shelli Yoder: County Council

Kate Wiltz: County Council

Pam Cook: Bean Blossom Township Trustee

Michelle Bright: Benton Township Trustee

Beverly Himes: Indiana Creek Township Trustee

Rosemary Doherty: Indiana Creek Township Board

In addition, Erika Oliphant, a supported candidate, won her race for Monroe County Prosecutor. That was a hard fought contest with another DWC supported candidate, Margie Rice, coming in second. We knew there could only be one winner and we applaud Erika and Margie for their joint demonstration of grace and sisterhood in dealing with the result.

We'd also like to thank Clerk Nicole Browne and her staff in the Monroe County Clerk’s office and Election Central for running such a smooth and efficient election. They worked tirelessly to make this happen without a glitch. In addition, Carolyn VandeWiele, election board representative, spent many hours each week leading up to the election and through May 8th ensuring the primaries would be a success. Kudos to both of you and our gratitude for your sacrifices.

The DWC steering committee (really Regina Moore--thank you, Regina!) organized a lunch break for endorsed and supported candidates and other DWC members on election day, and a lunch after the primaries on Friday at Grazie's to talk about the results and lessons learned. Both events were a welcome diversion from the high pace and stress of the last few weeks, and the lunch on Friday especially was a chance for all of us to celebrate the successes, thank families, friends and supporters, and get energized for the fall elections. Remember, folks, it's not over yet. We have to win in November, too, or these will have been nothing but practice runs. There's nothing wrong with learning from an election loss, but let's be honest, not one of us is in this business to lose. So let's put our campaign duds on and lift our candidates to victory in the fall!

DWC Breakfast on Friday, May 4th.
Special guests will be Bloomington Students Against Assault Weapons.

We’ll be hearing from the group of student leaders who traveled to Washington, DC for the March for Our Lives, and who haven’t paused in their organizing efforts since. Please join us to hear about their plans moving forward, and to discuss how we can continue to support youth activism for gun violence prevention in Bloomington and beyond.
A preview of this subject was covered by Noon Edition on WFIU Friday.
Link: https://indianapublicmedia.org/noonedition/political-activism-students/
After the discussion, join other members as we march to Election Central to vote together.
(This is an abbreviated meeting as the Deli needs to start serving the graduation weekend rush by 8:45am.)

ELECTION DAY ACTIVITIES Traditionally on Election Day, DWC members participate by greeting voters at the polls and offering a list of our endorsed candidates. This year is no different! We call it Point of Sale (POS) and you are invited to help:
Below is a link to SignUp Genius for Election Day to hand out materials for the Democratic Women's Caucus endorsed and supported candidates. You will note that shifts are divide up for both early voting (next weekend) and primary day.

Other cool things:

1) you can pick your preferred geographic location OR a specific polling place!
2) Shifts are 2 hours in length, generally.
3) Many people don't know who to vote for and you being there helps them.
4) Working the polls is FUN!! You meet a lot of great people and get to be outside!!
5) Our progressive females need our HELP!!!
6) Please share this with your campaign teams, friends and anyone who is interested in volunteering!

Once you sign up for a shift, we will contact you to let you know your location. We are analyzing data to choose polls that have the highest turnout. Note that we are purposely not advertising our spots to keep our strategies secret!

Everything you need to know is above or at this link:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c084eaca82ca3fd0-primary

P.S. If you run out of literature on primary day, text 812-345-0707 with your name and location and we will bring you more!
Please SHARE this with friends!!!!

In Dem Love,
DWC Steering Committee

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Early Saturday morning President Trump, apparently enraged at the New York Times’ investigation into his personal attorney, Michael Cohen, took to Twitter to attack White House correspondent and Pulitzer Prize winner Maggie Haberman as a “third rate reporter” and “Crooked H flunky,” accusing her and the newspaper of seeking to “destroy” Cohen and push him into “flipping” on his client. But Saturday’s Twitter assault on Haberman is only the latest in a series of attacks on both the press and the very idea of truth that no longer fails to shock but should alarm us all. The news is “fake,” “very biased,” “very unfair”; journalists are “the enemy of the American people.” Trump lies unceasingly and effortlessly; the Washington Post catalogued 2,436 presidential whoppers in 2017 alone. And Trump has repeatedly expressed his admiration, even friendship, for dictators like Putin and Duterte, under whose iron fist journalists who have the temerity to investigate governmental wrongdoing and corruption risk harassment and death. The American people owe a debt of gratitude to the investigative reporters who continue to rake through the muck of the swamp that is the Trump presidency, to the newspapers who support their work, and to the organizations and lawyers who stand ready to fight for freedom of the press. But, as the saying goes, freedom isn’t free… One of today’s action items is a call to support our free press, the defenders of our freedom, with our wallets. As Hannah Arendt so forcefully and eloquently argued: “The moment we no longer have a free press, anything can happen. What makes it possible for a totalitarian or any other dictatorship to rule is that people are not informed; how can you have an opinion if you are not informed? If everybody always lies to you, the consequence is not that you believe the lies, but rather that nobody believes anything any longer. This is because lies, by their very nature, have to be changed, and a lying government has constantly to rewrite its own history. On the receiving end you get not only one lie—a lie which you could go on for the rest of your days—but you get a great number of lies, depending on how the political wind blows. And a people that no longer can believe anything cannot make up its mind. It is deprived not only of its capacity to act but also of its capacity to think and to judge. And with such a people you can then do what you please.”

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It was a big week for the DWC!
At our Friday breakfast meeting we heard from the Indiana Democratic Party Deputy Chair for Engagement Dana Black and our featured speaker Indiana House Candidate Poonam Gill (who is running against Brian Bosma). E. Thomasina Marsili, running for State Representative in District 46 also spoke. They all stressed the importance of engaging their constituents by listening to their needs, of supporting education and civic education, and of using evidence based information in formulating policy. Many of our endorsed and supported candidates also spoke. Photos from the Breakfast can be found on the DWC Facebook page.

Poonam Gill, candidate for IN Rep, District 88 speaks at the DWC Breakfast

And on Sunday it was Karaoke! We had a great crowd, candidate singers, challenges and trivia, great food and drink and a good time to socialize with fellow democrats. Everyone had a lot of fun and we raised around $2000 to benefit our candidates. Highlights included Liz Watson, Dan Cannon and Rob Chatlos performing their version of “Lean On Me” as a trio, showing that Democrats can indeed work together for the common good. Check out the pictures here. Congratulations to Erika Oliphant who took home the grand prize and to Dan Cannon and Liz Watson who placed second and third respectively.

Erika Oliphant winner of the 2018 DWC Karaoke Title

And now it’s back to the hard work of getting women elected to office. Early voting starts tomorrow at Election Central. The Primary is a scant 30 days away on May 8.
Check out the list of DWC Endorsed and Supported Candidates on our website… links to their websites and Facebook pages are there so you can contact them and help them with their needs. The Monroe County Democratic Party has gone live with Candidate Information Central and we will shortly link our candidate information to their site as well. Sign up to work at the polls on election day or for DWC point of Sales help during early voting and on May 8. Get out and vote and make sure your friends get out and vote as well!!!

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It's a big week for the DWC!
Friday breakfast and Sunday Karaoke!
One serious, the other less so.

Breakfast Friday, April 6th, 7:30am, Village Deli
Dana Black will be bringing our guest, Poonam Gill, to breakfast on Friday. Poonam is running for the Indiana House in District 88. Her opponent, first elected to the House in 1986 and has rarely been challenged, is Brian Bosma. Poonam is one of those women called and encouraged to run this year, and we want to hear her story and support her. Come to breakfast to get a glimpse of what's happening in our state with the 2018 election, one of the many women running, and what we can do to help flip the house into common sense!
We'll be bundling checks for Poonam so bring your checkbook!
Dana Black and Poonam Gill with a few of our other incredible candidates sprinkled in for good measure. What could be better on a Friday morning!

Karaoke!
You don't want to miss the DWC 3rd Annual Karaoke fundraiser!
Sunday, April 8th at 4:00pm**note change of time
Admission is $15, all of which goes to help funding women candidates this year.

Celebrity singers (candidates!)
Challenges!
Chanting
Crooning
It's all here!

Shelli Yoder leads women singing "I Am Woman!" 2017 DWC Karaoke.

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They marched by the hundreds of thousands in cities large and small in all 50 states and in smaller solidarity marches around the world—from London to Brisbane to Tokyo. In Indianapolis the line to get into the protest at the statehouse wound around the block. Here in Bloomington protesters marched from the courthouse to the Sample Gates in sleet and freezing rain. Led by the youth of America, who have risen up to do what their elders could not—take on the NRA and the culture of gun violence that has turned our neighborhoods and schools into killing fields—marchers of all ages chanted “Enough is enough” and “Vote them out!” Americans listened as the child survivors of gun violence told their stories, honored the dead, and vowed to fight for the commonsense gun regulations that are supported by the overwhelming majority of their fellow citizens. But we all know that this is only the beginning. On Saturday we marched, but today we head out to register voters, track NRA money and legislation, support progressive candidates with our time and donations, fight for fair elections, hold our legislators’ feet to the fire, and VOTE. Together with the brave, passionate, and articulate young people who led the marches, we will free our country from its enslavement by a gun club, make our schools and streets safe spaces for learning and community, and create an America where hiding in small, dark places is once again child’s play, not an “active shooter” drill.

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Sheila Kennedy wrote a blog on March 18 entitled “So This Is What It’s Like Living In A Soap Opera” detailing the current goings on in our nation’s capitol. What with all the stabbings in the back, vindictive firings, public humiliation, sexism, men dressed to the nines while exhibiting a total lack of class, and behind it all the rich and powerful pulling the strings to benefit themselves… come to think of it, the news from Washington D.C. does remind one of an episode of Scandal, perhaps mixed in with an old rerun of Dallas.

Here in Indiana we’ve had our own share of soap operaism as a republican super-majority General Assembly closed out a short session that was described by Democratic House Minority Leader Terry Goodin as a “waste of time” and “a dog’s breakfast that should provide plenty of ammunition for those folks who question the necessity of even having a short session.” Despite the fact that one party controlled both houses of the legislature, this was a mostly do-nothing short session (Sunday alcohol sales and the designation of the Firefly as our state insect notwithstanding) that adjourned leaving many bills on the cutting room floor. Many of them should stay there.

Now the governor has called for a special session in May. Holcomb told reporters this morning. "We need to finish the people's business before the next budget session is upon us." Perhaps it would be nice to know to which “people” the governor feels beholden. Perhaps it’s not surprising… this has all the feel of a road project where our government agrees to pay (often those who did the work in the first place) to repair a shoddy job that has already run over budget and over time… we wouldn’t know anything about that now, would we… We can do better, and we know how!

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UPDATES FROM FRIDAY'S BREAKFAST MEETING

Members of Bloomington Students Against Assault Weapons visited the DWC Breakfast on Friday and talked about their plans for representing students in this area at the March 24th March for Our Lives in Washington, D.C., where they will march with the intent to send a message to our legislators that we are not satisfied with our current gun laws.
The generous DWC members present donated over $400 to their cause. The students will be back in April to tell us what they learned at the March. If you didn't get to contribute and wish to do so, you can make a donation to their Plum Fund at: https://www.plumfund.com/community-crowdfunding/neveragain. Checks can also be made out to BSAAW (Bloomington Students Against Assault Weapons) and sent to: BSAAW, care of Ruth Nall, 410 Pleasant Ridge Road, Bloomington, IN 47401.

Coincidentally, they also were fortunate enough to run into Senator Joe Donnelly at the breakfast and Joe invited them to meet with him later this month. This is how we work to create the ‘inspire’ part of the DWC mission!

The Endorsement Vote was held on Friday (those members not able to attend were able to vote online).

These 13 candidates received the necessary 66% of the votes cast to be endorsed:
Penny Githens INDIANA STATE REPRESENTATIVE, DISTRICT 60
Amy Swain INDIANA STATE REPRESENTATIVE, DISTRICT 62
Christine Talley-Haseman MONROE COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT JUDGE, SEAT 2
Catherine Stafford MONROE COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT JUDGE, SEAT 3
Darcie Fawcett MONROE COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT JUDGE, SEAT 8
Nicole Browne (i) MONROE COUNTY CLERK
Lee Jones MONROE COUNTY COMMISSIONER, DISTRICT 1
Shelli Yoder (i) MONROE COUNTY COUNCIL, DISTRICT 1
Kate Wiltz MONROE COUNTY COUNCIL, DISTRICT 2
Pam Cook (i) BEAN BLOSSOM TOWNSHIP TRUSTEE
Michelle Bright (i) BENTON TOWNSHIP TRUSTEE
Beverly Himes INDIAN CREEK TOWNSHIP TRUSTEE
Rosemary Doherty INDIAN CREEK TOWNSHIP BOARD

Two more candidates, Erika Oliphant and Margie Rice, seeking the office of Monroe County Prosecutor didn't receive the 66% vote threshold to achieve endorsement. According to the DWC policies, however, they are SUPPORTED by the DWC.

Candidates: Congratulations to all the women who went through this process. We hope you found the preparation and process one that helped you get out ahead of the game, and helped focus your efforts on your campaign earlier. We want you to have the best campaign you can possibly have.

Members: As a member, you are encouraged to help these women in their bid for office this year. All will need yard sign locations, all will need help in contacting voters (in a variety of ways), all will need moral support! Please contact them! (emails and contact information will be found in the FEBRUARY 28th Edition of the Newsletter

All: There was a bit of discussion on Friday about reviewing the Endorsement Process for candidates. If you are interested in participating in this process, or have comments at this point about how this should be done, please email [email protected]. This process of reviewing and revising is high on our agenda.

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