Dear Kari,

We’ve been rewarded with a string of good news recently, both locally and nationally. Our side is more energized and active than ever and our opponents continue to descend into chaos with unforced errors.

• The two petitions that will help drive our supporters to the polls—guaranteeing reproductive rights and legalizing recreational marijuana—were both accepted by the state supreme court and will be on the ballot this fall.
• President Biden raised record-breaking amounts of donations and announced that Florida is in play, meaning money, support and attention are coming our way.
• Donald Trump is sitting in a courtroom in New York.
• Opposing candidates are doubling down on their extreme, and extremely unpopular, positions which turn voters off, and
• Some of them are deciding it’s not worth the fight and are retiring rather than face what they see coming in November.

It’s tempting to become optimistic, even confident, about our chances. We are in better shape in terms of candidates, messaging and even finances than we have been in decades.

But, there are no sure things in politics. Yes, our candidates are excellent, but there are still dozens of races where we are not even competing. Yes, our messaging is clear, compelling and popular, but it’s not getting out to enough people. I still hear, “Where are the Democrats? What do they stand for? Why is there no visibility?” The answer always comes down to the same two items: People and Money.

We need more people. We need candidates for municipal and county races, specifically Cape Coral, where there are no Democrats running; Bonita Springs, where we have one candidate for city council; and county commission and school board, which each have only one candidate currently.

We need volunteers to phone bank, write letters to the editor and postcards and, most of all, we need volunteers to canvass in their own neighborhoods to register new voters and enroll Democrats in Vote-by-Mail.

We need you. Step up, now.

And, of course, we need donations. To answer the complaint about invisible Democrats, we need to send out more texts and emails. We need to advertise more on social media. We need to print the literature and forms that go into our door hangers when we canvass. And soon we will need to print slate cards for all the candidates and races in Lee County.

None of that is free. It all costs and it costs a lot.

Do not take for granted that momentum is on our side or that our cause is just or that victory is assured. We have a lot of work still ahead of us and the outcome is not foreordained. Please set up a recurring monthly donation of $50 or more to elect Democratic candidates up and down the ballot and get the word out. Do it today.

Thank you.

Jim Rosinus

Chair, Democratic Party of Lee County