The Chair’s Newsletter Vol. 1 No. 8
Week of October 20-29, 2024
Herb Rubenstein, Chair
We may seem like we are in the homestretch. This is true for this election cycle, but we are in for the long haul. This week we have the Ken Mitchell Event at Washington and Lee University on October 30th, Wednesday at 7pm in the Stackhouse Theatre. RSVP here.
And since they are using Google Docs, you can only RSVP for one person at a time and when you hit submit you will be asked “Submit Another Response.” Please do so if you are submitting more than one person’s name for RSVP.
We had a meeting in Buena Vista and we got some very engaged folks to attend. While only six people attended, we will be spending a lot of time in BV going forward as we will work with BV Dems to unseat Terry Austin, a House Delegate that Lexington, BV and a good part of Rockbridge County will be voting on in 2025.
We have four key events coming up.
• November 2nd – 1-3pm – Staunton, Augusta County Courthourse, National Women’s Rally
• November 4th – 5:30-7:30pm Election eve “Dine With Dems,” separate checks at Heliotrope and RSVP to lexrockvadems@gmail.com.
• Election night, November 5 – 7:30pm gathering at headquarters, 11 S. Jefferson Street
• Our November 11th Monthly Rockbridge Dems meeting will also be at Headquarters, 6:30pm both in-person and you can attend by Zoom.
And, we are planning on renting at least two 14 person vans to take people to the Inauguration of President Harris on January 20th in Washington, DC. A sign-up sheet is already in place at the office. You can also email lexrockvadems@gmail.com or call 540.464.3503 and leave a message. And we can rent larger busses and take as many people as want to come. I expect the cost will be about $100 per person for transportation.
As for the news of the week, here it is: LexRockBV Dems are canvassing throughout the LexRockBV area and signing up to be poll watchers and poll greeters. We still have openings. To canvass contact MaryAnn Maynard or Brenda McCanon and their email addresses are: trotmoretika@gmail.com and blmccano@gmail.com For poll greeters and poll watchers contact Rene Hasey at rr4382@gmail.com
Veterans for Harris will have a full page ad in the Wednesday News-Gazette and have large signs going up in the area. Thanks to them for stepping up in our area.
Come by the office and see the action. Buttons for sale, literature to pick up and people to see. Thanks to Linda Patterson who has recruited over 40 great volunteers to staff the office and take care of everyone walking in every day. Phone banking is going well thanks to the leadership of MaryAnn Maynard. The Pride festival on Saturday was a great success with Ken Mitchell speaking and lots of LexRockBV Dems staffing our table at the event.
So, a ton to be proud of and lots of work to do going forward. Thanks to all of you for making this year our best for Dems in our newly configured 600 square mile territory we call LexRockBV.
After this election cycle ends, the LexRockBV Democratic Committee will have at least seven (my favorite number) key initiatives and there will be lots of projects for our volunteers. The key areas include:
1. Win the Governorship, Lt. Governorship and Attorney General races in 2025!
2. Recruit and support the two House of Delegates’ candidates who will run for election and win in 2025. As Creigh Deeds, State Senator, tells us, we do not get a year off in Virginia as we have elections every year. We need to defeat Terry Austin, 37th House District, comprising parts of Rockbridge County, Allegheny County, Craig County and Botetourt County, as well as the cities of Covington, Lexington and Buena Vista. We also need to defeat Ellen Campbell, 36th House District, comprising parts of Rockbridge County and Augusta County, and the cities of Waynesboro and Staunton.
3. We need to purchase and organizational management software and use it to automate as many tasks as possible.
4. We will launch an All Rockbridge County membership drive, campaign and organizing strategy and expand our efforts in Buena Vista. We will hold quarterly meetings of Young Dems (up to age 40) and expand membership of this key group for our future.
5. We will develop a strategic plan with clear goals for every area of operations for the LexRockBV Committee for the next five years and discuss it at our January meeting.
6. We will begin in earnest the campaign for the 2026 6th District Congressional Race
7. We will significantly expand our new Website with lots of articles, videos, photos, and especially the calendar of events so that we Dems can participate through our volunteer network in hundreds of events in our area each year. Check out the website at www.lexrockbvdems.com and email any ideas for the site to herb@herbrubenstein.com
All the best. Keep up the great work and we are rising.
Herb Rubenstein, Chair
LexRockBV Democratic Committee, www.lexrockbvdems.com