Tag Archives: 2020 Election

Kathy’s PDB Letter Writing Parties – WRAP UP

October 21, 2020

Kathy Kerridge and the Progressive Democrats of Benicia sponsored 12 letter writing parties to train people how to write letters for Vote Forward and to write and send the letters.

Letters were written to low propensity  voters (those who did not vote in at least three of the last four elections) located in “super states.”  Super states are not only key for the Presidential election, but also either have a Senate race or a need to elect a democratic state legislature for redistricting reasons.

The letters encouraged people to vote.  They were hand addressed and had a personalized handwritten message.  This has been shown to be effective in increasing voter turnout.

Kathy hosted the 12  parties on Zoom.  They started in May and went through October 12.

The Big Send date was October 17.  Kathy wrote, “I had over 40 people participate.  Many people came to several parties.  We were from all over the country and ranged in age from high school to 90 years old.  We wrote 8,395 plus letters.

Over 16 million letters were sent to voters all over the country.  This far surpassed the original goal of 10 million letters.  Kathy continued, “Our top letter writer wrote 2600 letters.  One couple wrote 1340.  With every letter went a hope to get that person to the polls.  This was a fun way to contribute to the election without having to leave home.”

Kathy Kerridge, Treasurer, Progressive Democrats of Benicia

Our HUGE thanks to Kathy Kerridge and her 40+ helpers!!

September 19 – conversation with Reps. Thompson and Bustos

Letter from Mary Jane Bowker of Rep. Mike Thompson’s office:

Dear Activists,

Mark your calendar for Saturday, September 19th from 11:30-12:30!

We are thrilled to invite you and your extraordinary volunteers (no charge!) to a conversation with Congressman Thompson and Representative Cheri Bustos. Representative Bustos is Chair of the Democratic Congressional Committee, where she’s leading the effort to protect and expand our new Democratic Majority. Hear firsthand about the status of the House races across the country, which races to focus on with money and grit as we get close to the finish line.

I am contacting all the leaders of the activist organizations in District 5, covering Napa, Sonoma, Lake Contra Cost and Solano counties.

Please send this invitation to your group of activists and have them RSVP to www.mikethompsonforcongress.com, go to events on September 19th

Please RSVP by Friday, September 18th, and I will send the Zoom link within 24 hours of the call.

We look forward to a robust conversation!

Marching to the finish line!
Mary Jane Bowker
Phone 707-226-8989
mjbowker@mikethompsonforcongress.com

Progressive Democrats endorse YES on Benicia Measure D, Cannabis – also weigh in on State Props

The votes are in!!!

PDB members cast their votes last week on Benicia’s non-binding referendum, Measure D, as well as several of the State Propositions, all of which will appear on our November 3 ballot.

Following an informative meeting on September 8, members voted on our digital poll here on the PDB website.  The overall position of our members is very evident, with Benicia Measure D and several of the state propositions receiving nearly 100% of the votes. Here’s how the voting went:

PDB Member – Measure D and State Propositions
LOCAL BENICIA MEASURE D – Cannabis State Proposition 15 – Taxes State Proposition 16 – Affirmative Action State Proposition 17 – Suffrage State Proposition 18 – Suffrage
% YES 92.0% 100.0% 92.0% 100.0% 92.0%
% NO 8.0% 0.0% 8.0% 0.0% 8.0%
State Proposition 20 – Law Enforcement State Proposition 24 – Business State Proposition 25 – Trials
% YES 20.8% 50.0% 100.0%
% NO 79.2% 50.0% 0.0%

Note that our PDB vote on state propositions is only advisory.  Local Democratic clubs must follow the positions taken by our California Democratic Party on state propositions.  NONETHELESS and interestingly, Progressive Democrats of Benicia voted entirely in sync with our California Dem Party: YES on 15, 16, 17, 18, and 25, NO on 20, and NEUTRAL on 24.  (PDB took no position on propositions 14, 19, 21, 22, and 23, and we refer you to the Party’s positions.)

For more background and detailed information, see: