August 22, 2018
Your Weekly News from the CCDP and Political Clubs
Greetings!
Eleven weeks! That's all we have left before election day. This year, more than ever, we have a strong commitment to make the mid-term election a record-breaking event. We also have many ways you can help make the changes necessary to return Texas to Blue.
  • Be there. Attend events for the candidates. Talk to friends and family about the candidates and why you support them. Help out at events.
  • Lend a hand. Your help is needed for weekly events like block walking, phone banking and postcard writing. Find your niche and raise your hand to volunteer.
  • Contribute. As Keith Ellison said at the 2017 Ann Richards Dinner "We can't win broke, ya'll."
With everyone's help, we can make a better, BLUER, Texas happen.
COLLIN COUNTY IS CRITICAL FOR "SLATE OF 8"
 DEMOCRATS RUNNING FOR COURT OF APPEALS
Democrats in Collin County can help the "Slate of 8" Democrats Running for Fifth District Court of Appeals flip this court in ONE SINGLE election cycle. If they win, this appellate court - the largest in Texas - will go from 13 Republicans to 8 Democrats and 5 Republicans on November 6th.This slate includes Judge Ken Molberg, who has been a major supporter of the Collin County Democratic Party for many years, and who has sought this office before.
 
What is the "Slate of 8" all about? The eight Democrats running for the Fifth District Court of Appeals all seek to bring desperately needed change to this court, the most important appellate court in North Texas. If you have a trial court outcome that you want to appeal, the Fifth District Court of Appeals is your only recourse in Collin, Dallas, Grayson, Hunt, Kaufman and Rockwall Counties. Appeals from every kind of court - family, criminal and civil - feed into this court that has long been dominated by radically conservative Republican justices.
 
In Texas we elect our judges, but several of the current Fifth District Court of Appeals justices were appointed or have not faced serious competition at the ballot box. It’s time for the voters in the Fifth District to elect new justices who can bring fresh ideas, different perspectives, intellectual diversity and genuine fairness and justice to this court. The current justices have earned a reputation for disregarding outcomes at the trial court level, including jury verdicts. The bias in favor of big players and special interests over people and the sanctity of trial by jury must change.

This is the Most Important Judicial Race in North Texas
to Create Change in our Justice System

MEET THE SLATE OF 8:
 
JUDGE ROBERT BURNS for Chief Justice - Judge Burns presides over Criminal District Court 1 and has more than a decade of judicial experience. He has prior experience as both a prosecutor and defense attorney. He is Board Certified in Criminal Law.
 
ROBBIE PARTIDA-KIPNESS for Place 2 - Robbie Partida-Kipness has 20 years of civil litigation experience in North Texas and will bring a new perspective to a Court of Appeals that is currently dominated by justices who distrust jury verdicts.
 
ERIN NOWELL for Place 5 - Erin Nowell is an award-winning civil attorney and leader in the North Texas legal community with more than 14 years of experience. She has balanced experience working as a plaintiff's attorney and defending lawsuits.
 
BILL PEDERSEN for Place 9 - Bill Pedersen has wide experience helping clients in all six counties in the district: Collin, Dallas, Kaufman, Hunt, Grayson and Rockwall. He has 17 years of experience, including 100 jury trials and handling both criminal and civil matters.
 
AMANDA REICHEK for Place 10 - Award-winning attorney Amanda Reichek has 14 years of civil law experience with a focus on labor and employment law. She is Board Certified and actively involved in numerous legal and professional organizations.
 
CORY CARLYLE for Place 11 - Appellate lawyer Cory Carlyle will bring strong experience and intellectual diversity to the Court of Appeals. Cory has written more than 100 appellate briefs in cases dealing with a range of criminal and civil issues.
 
JUDGE KEN MOLBERG for Place 12 - Judge Molberg has served the 95th Civil District Court of Texas since 2009. He has more than 40 years of trial experience. He was honored as the Trial Judge of the Year by the Dallas Chapter and Texas Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates.
 
LESLIE LESTER OSBORNE for Place 13 - Osborne is a civil attorney with more than 20 years of experience and a strong background in complex litigation in first and third party insurance defense, product and premises liability defense, and commercial litigation.
 
The easiest way to elect these Democrats is to vote a straight Democratic ticket to elect the "Slate of 8" and every other Democrat on the Collin County ballot. Register to help the Slate of 8 with volunteer activities. Follow these candidates on Facebook .
Summer of Justice Candidates Meet & Greet
Join Sharon Hirsch , candidate for TX House District 66, and the Slate of 8 candidates running to bring balance to your Texas 5th District Court of Appeals. They'll speak a little and listen a lot to earn your vote and represent you.
When: Tuesday, August 28 at 6:00 p.m.
Where: Coffee House Cafe, 6150 Frankford Rd, Dallas, TX 75252
Please RSVP here.
Julie Luton
Uniting ALL Texan s

Julie Luton is running for Texas State Representative in District 70 because our representative should reflect the values of ALL Texans. She will choose people over politics and decency over divisiveness. She will work to:
√ Save our public schools for our children and future workforce
√ Fight to expand access to affordable healthcare and protect pre-existing condition coverage
√ Work with people of both parties to do what is right for Texas

Julie owned a small award-winning ad agency, spent hundreds of hours working in the trenches with area philanthropies, works on local education issues, and serves her church on the Leadership Board. She's the mother of two public school-educated children and is married to her high school sweetheart. Her family has made McKinney their home for 17 years.

For more information, please visit her web page . You can donate to Julie's campaign here .
Suzanne Smith
Volunteer Kickoff: Saturday, August 25
 
“…It’s an easy call for us to recommend business consultant Suzanne Smith… She has a well-rounded background in business and civic engagement. That and her knowledge of key education issues makes her a solid choice.”
The Dallas Morning News, Primary Endorsement
 
Suzanne Smith is ready to FIGHT for better public education in Texas in her race for State Board of Education District 12. Join her at her Volunteer Kick-off event in Collin County and receive a free T-Shirt, buttons/stickers, and info to help spread the word. Come out to El Noa Noa in Plano (1915 N. Central Expressway) from 1 - 3 PM. RSVP here .
For more information, go to Suzanne's web page . To make a donation to her campaign, click here .
CCDWD 2018 CANDIDATE DISABILITY EDUCATION FORUM

REMINDER--TEXAS HOUSE & SENATE CANDIDATES!
There are 1,766,827 voters with disabilities in Texas.
Find out what's on their minds!
Invites went out to many TX House & Senate candidates. Didn't get yours? Can't find it in the mess on your desktop? No worries, follow the instructions and sign up now!

Disability issues can be complex for those unfamiliar with them. We want to help your campaigns reach voters who prioritize disability issues. A solid understanding of the vital importance of these concerns will help you be more effective once you are in office. You will also be more effective at campaign events, candidate forums, and meet & greets, when your stump speech and answers to questions include the disability perspective.

Disability issues affect people across the political spectrum. When people's lives are on the line, they are more likely to cross party lines and vote for you.

There are 1,766,827 voters with disabilities in Texas.
Find out what's on their minds!
Click here to check out the program.
Conference calls:
Program 1: Disability Healthcare and Education Offered August 28th, 6:30-8:00 pm
Program 2: Voting Rights, Employment & Transportation, Disability Justice Offered September 7th and September 10th, 6:30-8:00 pm
Need more info? Contact your local CCDWD representative.
307-314-ABLE (2253)
For additional details, visit the CCDWD Facebook page or visit their web site .
The Bottom Line -- Turning Texas Blue Takes Some Green
We need money…IN politics? Well, yes…to an extent. We all agree that our legislators must be beyond the influence of dollars when crafting law, but in order to get legislators into office who agree with that (ie: Democratic candidates), we have to support the systems and resources aimed at helping elect them.
 
Your contributions make the difference from keeping the lights on at the CCDP office so our candidates have a meeting place for blockwalks and phone banks, to making sure through mailers and road signs that Dems in Collin County know they are not, in fact, the only Democrat here. The Party plays an essential role in the transformation we all see happening in our local politics right now. With an all-volunteer staff, every dollar that comes in to the Party goes to fulfilling our mission: to get Democrats elected.
 
It’s easy as we go about our day to forget the impact we could have on what happens in November. That Frappuccino at Starbucks could turn into packets for a whole precinct block walk. That extra lunch out of the office could be a whole week’s worth of electricity where important, brilliant work is being done to get our candidates elected.
 
Please consider increasing – or starting – your monthly contribution to the Party. Put those dollars to work not just for you, but for everyone in our community who is counting on change this November.
Keeping the Promise

You remember that time. You likely remember that day. It was November 8, 2016. Millions of Democrats across America vowed we would do everything in our power to ensure a return to a more ethical, and more just, government. You remember that promise, right? We promised each other; we “pinky swore” that we would do everything we could to get Democrats elected into office. 

Here in Collin County, over the past few weeks, over 100 Democratic “blue promise keepers” held true to their word. Collin County Democrats canvassed thousands of doors walking in the rain and in the shine, to bring the “great blue word” to the doorsteps of blue voters.

We are asking each of you, reading this article, to remember that promise. We are asking each of you to be true “blue promise keepers,” now through November. 

You may be asking, “What doors will I knock on?” CCDP only knocks on Democratic doors. Our job is to connect with our fellow Democratic voters. We walk to remind our voters how critical their vote is this midterm election year. 

We walk to inform them that congressional elections are imperative to changing today’s local and national political environment. We must gain a majority in the house, senate and local offices to help ensure basic public American protections like SSI, Medicare, the FDA and the EPA aren’t erased forever.

Our next Mega Blockwalk is this Saturday, August 25th from 9:00 a.m. to noon.

We need you to be a “blue promise keeper.” We need your friends and we need your family members to come out with us and flip this county blue! We need you to pinky swear. We need you to #WalkForEveryDem on the ballot. To sign up, please click on a House District Walk .
As our children head back to school for an exciting new year of learning, join us in our county-wide Back to School Mega-blockwalk. We need change in Austin and we need leaders that will protect our public schools and our children's futures. Let's walk for our schools, for our teachers, and for our children! 

Choose the Mega-Blockwalk your want to join when you click HERE .
The Future is Blue: a Summit on August 26
 
Democrats from all points around North Texas are invited to participate in a summit to help build, empower and inspire everyone in our goal to turn Texas back to Blue.
 
The Denton County Democratic Party is sponsoring this event on Sunday, August 26 at 2:00 pm at the University of North Texas in the Lyceum Theater. Eric Bauman , the current Chair of the California Democratic Party, offers his insight into turning a state to Blue. The second part of the event will include an open mic discussion featuring Eric Bauman - Chair-California Democratic Party; Dr. Carla Brailey - Vice Chair-Texas Democratic Party; Mike Floyd -Treasurer - Texas Democratic Party; Deborah Peoples - Chair-Tarrant County Democratic Party; and Carol Donovan - Chair-Dallas County Democratic Party. Come bring your questions, ideas and experiences to share at this groundbreaking summit. Admission is free but you must pre-register in order to attend. Pre-register here . For more information, go to the Denton County Democratic Part y site.
 
The Future Is Blue is co-sponsored by:
Denton County Democratic Party Dallas County Democratic Party
Tarrant County Democratic Party Collin County Democratic Party 
Collin County Democratic Party | 972-578-1483 | Website