FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

03/07/2016

WALDO COUNTY DEMOCRATIC COMMITTEE

Unofficial Results of March 6th Democratic Caucus

Town/City Name; Clinton delegates - Sanders delegates elected:

Belmont; 0-2

Belfast; 7-17

Burnham; 1-1

Brooks; 0-2

Frankfort; 1-2

Freedom; 0-2

Islesboro; 1-2

Jackson; 0-1

Knox; 0-1

Liberty; 1-2

Lincolnville; 2-6

Monroe; 0-3

Montville; 0-3

Morrill; 1-1

Northport; 2-3

Palermo; 1-2

Prospect; 1-1

Searsmont; 2-2

Searsport; 2-5

Stockton Springs; 1-4

Swanville; 0-3

Thorndike; 0-2

Troy; 1-1

Unity; 1-3

Waldo; 0-2

Winterport; 3-5

These are unofficial results, some have NOT been reported to the state party yet, namely Frankfort and Waldo. Of 106 total delegates allocated to Waldo County, Secretary Clinton took 28, while Senator Sanders took 78, which means that Senator Sanders took 73.6% of the total delegates in Waldo County, while Secretary Clinton took 26.4%.

Waldo County Chair and Belfast City Councilor Neal Harkness told me that he wouldn't be surprised if Sanders won big in Waldo County, but I don't think either of us expected it to be THIS big. The unfortunate thing is that a lot of the people who voted for Sanders in the caucuses in Maine will probably not get involved in their local Democratic county committees. Senator Sanders has inspired a lot of people who were otherwise uninvolved in the political process to get out and CAUCUS and, as Democrats, I think we should do everything in our power to welcome them into our party. Republicans have been schooling us in local and state elections. Maine Senate Majority Leader Thibodeau (R-Winterport), Representative James Gillway (R-Searsport) and Representative Mary Anne Kinney (R-Knox) should all be unseated, and Democrats have great candidates in all of those districts. Jonathan Fulford (D-Monroe) is running against Sen. Michael Thibodeau for Maine's 11th Senate District, while April Turner (D-Freedom) is running against Rep. Kinney and Scott Cuddy (D-Winterport) is running against Rep. Gillway.

While I am happy that we have managed to field these candidates, a few months ago it wasn't looking good for Democrats in Waldo County. These candidates declared late, and for the Waldo County Democrats to remain relevant we need to be recruiting candidates across the county not only for state office, but for city, town and schoolboard positions as well. Meredith Ares, a loyal Democrat and true friend, recently lost an election in Searsport for town selectmen, right in my backyard! Only 115 people got out to vote for Ms. Ares in the March 1st election, while there's about 450 registered Democrats in Searsport. That's an election we could win! I want the Waldo County Democratic Committee to be a force that can help candidates like Ms. Ares win in Searsport and be positive influence in elections across the county. I believe this means new leadership! Too long have the Waldo County Democrats been stuck in the past. We can barely make enough money to hold the office month to month! I would instead like to be worried about where we are spending our money. There are enough Democrats in Waldo County to have a well-funded Democratic committee, and we have an experienced Treasurer in Betty Johnson that could handle it!

I want the WCDC (Waldo County Democratic Committee) to come into the 21st century. This means a website that is independent of Facebook, Wordpress or Blogger. This means delegating responsibilities to make people feel valued, and involved. This means a fundraising plan of action that will incorporate direct mail, email, social media and seasonal public fundraisers, and a budget plan to match! This also means new leadership in the county committee itself. We need to work together to create a vision for what we, as Democrats, want the WCDC to be. I hear a lot of Sanders voters say they are unhappy with the Democratic establishment, and my answer to that is "THEN CHANGE IT!" If you don't like the platform of the Democratic party, come to a county committee meeting! Change the establishment in Maine! Run for office! Get involved! Become a county committee member and run for chair!

In the county committee by-laws, we used to have a Campaign Committee and a Fundraising Committee. It would be awesome, to me, if we could start these committees again, help Betty Johnson, the WCDC Treasurer, keep the finances of our committee in the black, and at the same time help recruit Democratic candidates for local and state office.

Please, get involved! We can only do this together! And to donate to the WCDC click here:

DONATE TO WALDO COUNTY DEMOCRATS

The unofficial caucus results and corresponding editorial was written by Matthew Hogan, Vice-Chair of the Waldo County Democratic Committee and Chair of the Searsport Democratic Town Committee