2019 Elections -- Adopt a Campaign and Get Involved!

As former Speaker Tip O'Neill liked to say, “All politics is local” -- and there is no faster way for you to exercise your power as a citizen than to get involved in a local school board or municipal race! 2019 will be full of local races so be sure to take part in the CDP's Adopt-A-Local Campaign for 2019 by signing up here!

There's less than 2 months until the 2019 elections, and there are amazing Democrats running for offices like school board, city council, mayor, or other municipal offices! Why do these matter?

School Boards determine the direction that your local schools will go as far as investment and curriculum adoption.
City Council members are your municipality's legislative body. They can determine where funding for city projects will go, and what contracters and companies your city may hire to do the job!
Mayors are the head of your city or town. They are the executive in charge, and can set a progressive (or conservative) agenda for your hometown.

Don't let others make the decision for you -- exercise your power as a citizen and adopt a campaign of one of these amazing Democrats running to represent you at the most local level! Click here to sign up for the Adopt a Campaign Program!

Impeachment and #FakeTrumpEmergency

In case you hadn't heard, House Democrats have opened a formal impeachment inquiry against President Trump.

Here's what's known:

Whistleblower Complaint:

Here are key takeaways from the whistleblower complaint released this morning:

“LOCK DOWN” ALL RECORDS: After the call, the White House sought to “lock down” all records of the phone call.
“NOT THE FIRST TIME”: According to White House officials, this is not the first time the administration has covered up documents in a separate computer system.
MULTIPLE OFFICIALS: The whistleblower complaint cites information from multiple officials that Trump abused his power to solicit election interference from a foreign country.
OFFICIALS KNEW TRUMP ABUSED HIS POWER: White House officials immediately knew they had witnessed the president abuse his power for personal gain.
UKRANIAN LEADERSHIP LED TO BELIEVE THEY HAD TO “PLAY BALL”: Multiple officials said that Ukranian leadership was led to believe that the phone call would depend on the Ukranian president’s willingness to “play ball” on multiple issues.
RUDY GIULIANI HURT NATIONAL SECURITY: Giuliani met frequently outside official channels with Ukrainian leaders, forcing State Department officials to step in to “contain the damage” to national security.

Memorandum Of Trump’s Call With Ukraine:

Here are the top takeaways from the memorandum released yesterday on the call between Trump and the Ukranian president:

SERIOUS QUESTIONS ABOUT DOJ INVOLVEMENT: This memorandum, along with new reporting, raises serious questions about DOJ’s role in this story.

Trump: “I will have Mr. Giuliani give you a call and I am also going to have Attorney General Barr call and we will get to the bottom of it.”
Trump: “I will tell Rudy and Attorney General Barr to call.”
Trump: “Whatever you can do with the attorney general would be great.”
New York Times: “After a whistle-blower raised concerns about Mr. Trump’s dealings with Ukraine, the director of national intelligence and the inspector general for the intelligence community each referred the complaint for a possible criminal investigation into the president’s actions, according to a Justice Department official. The department’s criminal division reviewed the matters and concluded that there was no basis for a criminal investigation into Mr. Trump’s behavior. Law enforcement officials determined that the transcript of the call did not show that Mr. Trump had violated campaign finance laws by soliciting from a foreign national a contribution, donation or thing of value.”

THIS IS NOT A TRANSCRIPT: It says right at the top that this is a memorandum and not a verbatim transcript of the discussion.

TRUMP REPEATEDLY PRESSURED THE UKRANIAN PRESIDENT TO WORK WITH RUDY GIULIANI his personal lawyer who was reportedly pushing a shadow agenda in Ukraine that included an investigation into Trump’s political opponent.

Trump: “I would like you to do us a favor though.”
Trump: “So if you can look into it.”
Trump: “Mr. Giuliani is a highly respected man. He was the mayor of New York City, a great mayor, and I would like him to call you. I will ask him to call you.”
Trump: “Rudy very much knows what's happening and he is a very capable guy. If you could speak to him that would be great.”

TRUMP ATTACKED OUR ALLIES, putting his own personal and political interests ahead of our foreign policy and national security.

Trump: “Well it is very nice of you to say that I will say that we do a lot for Ukraine. We spend a lot of effort and a lot of time. Much more than the European countries are doing and they should be helping you more than they are. Germany does almost nothing for you. All they do is talk and I think it's something that you should really ask them about. When I was speaking to Angela Merkel she talks Ukraine, but she doesn't do anything.”
Trump’s pivot to attacking our allies doesn’t match the facts.
- NPR: Pentagon Letter Undercuts Trump Assertion on Delaying Aid to Ukraine Over Corruption

Here's some good resources and stories about this mess:

Gardner Chooses Trump over Colorado...Again

The U.S. Senate voted to terminate President Trump’s sham national emergency declaration for a second time this week, but Senator Cory Gardner voted once again to support Trump’s unconstitutional power grab. A number of other Republican senators broke with the president, who is expected to veto the resolution.

This is the first vote on the emergency declaration since the Trump administration announced it would be raiding $8 million from Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs. The White House is already considering a scheme to divert billions more from congressionally-approved military projects.

Gardner broke his promise to protect funding for Colorado military projects, earning scorn from the Denver Post editorial board, which wrote: “It’s unfortunate Gardner can’t defend Colorado and the U.S. Constitution at the same time, or even one at a time, or just one or the other.” After Gardner’s March vote to uphold Trump’s national emergency declaration, the Denver Post rescinded their 2014 endorsement of Gardner.

We were there to call Cory out:

“Senator Cory Gardner had a very clear choice with today’s vote: double down on his support for Trump’s unconstitutional power grab, or prevent Peterson Air Force Base from losing $8 million in funding. Gardner chose Trump over doing what’s right for Colorado -- even after he broke a promise to protect funding for our state’s military projects. Standing up for Colorado’s servicemembers should be an easy choice for our U.S. senator, but Gardner has pledged his allegiance to Trump and abandoned the constituents he’s supposed to represent.”

Why Caucus in Colorado?

Join the High Fivers Club!

"What's the High Fivers Club", you ask? It started with a simple idea: There are nearly 1.2 million registered Democrats in Colorado -- what if every single one of them gave just $5 a month to the Colorado Democratic Party (CDP)?

Answer: The CDP would be the best-funded state party in the country -- with zero dollars from corporate PACs and plenty for flipping red seats to blue!

If you haven't given to the CDP yet, here's a few simple reasons why we're asking you today:

The CDP is the central base that supports volunteer recruitment, training candidates, and helping county parties win elections. While the DNC provides some limited funds, the reality is it is up to us to raise our own money so we can support Democratic candidates running for office in Colorado.
The CDP is neutral in primaries -- but once the Democratic nominee has emerged, we connect our vast network of volunteers to them so they can knock on more doors than the Republicans.
Elections and candidates come and go, but the CDP remains. We provide continuity so candidates don't have to reinvent the wheel every cycle.

Will you join the High Fivers Club? Click the logo below to join!

Volunteer of the Week: Richard H.

Richard with his Grandfather, Frank LaMere

Meet Richard, our youngest volunteer of the week we have had the pleasure of featuring in this space! Richard is a student at the Universitiy of Colorado Denver, and this summer, he founded the CDP's Native American Initiative to be able to advocate for native people and help get them involved in the political process.

Richard is the grandson of Frank LaMere -- one of the Democratic Party's fiercest and renowned civil rights leaders. Frank chaired the Democratic Party's National Native American Caucus, and served as a delegate to the Democratic National Committee 7 consecutive times, from 1988 to 2012. Frank passed away this summer, and Richard decided to continue his grandfather's legacy of political activism and got involved with the Colorado Democrats.

"If you don't make people uncomfortable sometimes, nothing will ever change. If you see something wrong in your community it is your responsability to take initiative and change it." That is why Richard got involved.

If you would like to support Richard with Native American outreach or help him raise money to table at events, you can email Karin at [email protected].

Rural Spotlight from Shelia: Custer County

Custer County is located in the southcentral area of Colorado. To the north of Custer County is Fremont County, to the east is Pueblo County, to the southeast is Huerfano County and to the west is Saguache County. Westcliffe is the county seat for Custer County, but Silver Clift is the largest town in Custer County.

Custer County is predominately a very red county, but the Custer County Democrats work hard to keep the Blue Wave moving under the watchful eye of their chair Roland Williams and his side kick James Gilbert. There are approximately 466 registered Democrats, 2159 registered Republicans and 1,038 Unaffiliated voters in Custer County. In the 2018 election 71.47% of the voters turned out and had their ballots counted.

Established in 1877, Custer County is named after Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer and is the 10th least populous County in Colorado. Custer County is made up of rugged terrain and grasslands but mostly National Forrest, Pike and San Isabel National Forests and Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands. Cattle Ranching and tourism makes up most of Custer County’s economy. The town of Westcliffe offers Art Shows and the Smokey Jack Observatory, located at 100 S. Adams Blvd, Westcliffe, Colorado, for all your star gazing enjoyment. On October 5th, 2019, the final Public Star Party of the season will celebrate International “Observe the Moon Night”. International “Observe the Moon Night” is a worldwide celebration of lunar science and exploration held annually since 2010.

One day each year, everyone on Earth is invited to observe and learn about the Moon together, and to celebrate the cultural and personal connections we all have with our nearest neighbor. You can find out more about this exciting event at www.visitcustercounty.com. Custer County is also home to Bishop’s Castle, a one-man project of Jim Bishop who has spent nearly 60 years constructing this amazing roadside attraction.

For more information about the Custer County Democrats please contact the Roland Williams, [email protected].

Keep Colorado Wild

- Shelia

Shelia Canfield Jones
Vice Chair, Rural Outreach
Colorado Democratic Party

Sign up for "Work for the Wave" Webinars!

Our party wouldn't be as organized and successful as it is without the talented and dedicated volunteers we have at the local levels. Want to brush up on your skills so you can help make sure Colorado goes blue in 2020? Sign up for an upcoming webinar:

September 30: Rural Outreach (Hosted by Shelia Canfield-Jones)
A blue wave is built by reaching out to all communities across our awesome state! Join our Vice Chair of Rural Outeach for how you can engage voters in the rural areas of Colorado!

October 3: Voter Registration (Hosted by Julia Bristor and Betsy Daniel)
One of the most important things we can do is register new voters! Learn how to do that and be able to join us at voter registration drives by checking out this webinar!

October 14: GOTV (Hosted by Morgan Carroll)
When Democrats turn out to vote, we win elections! Learn from CDP Chair Morgan Carroll some tips and strategies for effectively turning out voters in your community!

Launch of the CDP's Colorado FAITH-ful Democrats Initiative

This week, the Colorado Democratic Party was joined by faith leaders and elected officials to launch a brand new initiative of the CDP -- the Colorado FAITH-ful Democrats! It's mission: to reach out to and engage faith communities of all denominations. At our kick-off at the Colorado Veterans Memorial that was emceed by Chair Morgan Carroll, we were pleased to welcome these incredible speakers:

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser
State Representative James Coleman
Former CO State Sen. Polly Baca
Rabbi Rachel Kobrin, Spiritual Director of Congregation Rodef Shalom
Pastor Brad Laurvick, Highlands United Methodist Church
Reverend Patrick Demmer, Greater Metro Denver Ministerial Alliance
Nabeeh Hasan, Director of the Colorado Muslim Speaker’s Bureau
Jackie Larner of Together Colorado

Click here to watch our press conference!

Join the CDP Women's Initiative!

The Women's Initiative of the Colorado Democrats is building and growing. We need YOU to make it even more successful.

Monthly webinar/meetings
We are hosting monthly statewide meetings via webinar on the first Wednesday of each month at 7:00pm. We feature a speaker during the first 30 minutes. You can call in or log in from anywhere. We have had terrific speakers and we are always open to your ideas for an upcoming meeting. Coming up next week on Wednesday, October 2nd we are delighted to feature Christine Pelosi (who chairs the CA Women's Caucus) on Leading in the Democratic Party. Register here for this month's meeting!

Women's Issues Conference

Join us on Saturday, October 26 for our first conference. This is designed to be a gathering where you can connect, network and think about some of the issues we do not get to talk about in other party settings. "Leading, Persisting, Resisting: Harnessing the Power of Women for Good - A conference for everyone" is brought to you by the Women's Initiative and the Circles of Influence, Saturday, October 26, 2019, 8:00 am – 1:00 pm The Summit Conference & Event Center, 411 Sable Blvd, Aurora, CO 80011. Register here

We March, We Rally, We Protest and Turnout for Elections...

It never feels like it is enough.

Join us to have real conversations about how women Lead, our Issues, Forgiveness, Transforming ourselves, and Strategies for Moving Forward.

Topics include:

Leadership in challenging times
Taking on inequity and injustice in our everyday lives
Building power with our rural sisters
Art in our activism

Sign up today

Thank you!

Women's Initiative Officers

Karen Middleton, Chair
Lisa Neal-Graves, First Vice Chair
Sandie McNamara, Second Vice Chair
Stella Yu, Second Vice Chair
Betsy Daniel, Secretary
Vita Brown, Treasurer
Marlo Alston, Outreach Committee Chair

Cheers to the Windsor Gardens Democratic Club!

Under the leadership of Donna Fisher and Mona Sarratt Knight, the club conducted 3 phone call sessions in August to help defeat the recall efforts directed at State Senators Brittney Pettersen and Pete Lee. Over the course of the 3 nights, more than 20 residents and other volunteers from House District 6 made hundreds of calls.

Following the success of those efforts, in September the Club sponsored two nights of postcard writing, urging voters in Senator Leroy Garcia's Senate District to "decline to sign" to fight against the recall effort against him. Over 800 postcards were handwritten and mailed, thanks to the generosity of residents of Windsor Gardens and HD6 volunteers and leadership. We truly value the hard work and dedication of the Windsor Gardens Democratic Club and look forward to continuing to work with them as we go into 2020!

On The Road

CDP Chair Morgan Carroll kicked off a big canvass for local candidates in Arapahoe County with Arapahoe Dems! Morgan, CDP 1st Vice Chair Howard Chou, and ED Halisi Vinson attended the Boulder County Democrats' Truman Dinner featuring Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as the keynote speaker! Comms Director David Pourshoushtari attended that morning's Climate Town Hall with Rep. Ocasio-Cortez and Rep. Joe Neguse. This Wednesday, Morgan, Halisi, David, Outreach Coordinator Raul Guevara, Statewide Field Coordinator Tyler McDermott, and Technology Director Pete Williams met with Western Slope Democrats in Summit County for an outreach stop that included trainigs on voter registration, messaging, and VAN usage!

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