Waldo County Democratic Committee

The Waldo County Dems’ August meeting covered a lot of ground, from the Contest Every Race Grant to our picnic plans and openings in upcoming local elections.

There are several local seats open in Waldo County this November and we’re seeking candidates to fill them! Here are the opportunities:

• Belfast City Council seats for Ward 3 and Ward 4
• Belfast (RSU 71) School Board seat
• Select Board Seat in Stockton Springs

If you or someone you know is interested, please reach out to us ASAP, as ballot petitions for the Belfast seats are due the first week of September and late September for the Stockton Springs seat. WCDC can help you collect petition signatures and connect you with local candidate training.

There are also several positions on the Waldo County Commission’s Budget Committee in all three districts. These must be filled by a town Select Board member who is nominated by their district’s Commissioner and then elected by the other Select Boards in the district. (See our Elected Officials page to see what town your district is in and who your County Commissioner is.) It’s vital to have people with Democratic values in all of these important positions, so please email to help us find candidates to fill them!

We’re looking forward to seeing all of you at our End-of-Summer Picnic on September 9 at 1pm at Gesner Park in Monroe! We’ve secured re-usable tableware and will provide soft beverages, music, and some lawn games. Please bring a dish to share and a lawn chair. You’re also welcome to BYOB and invite neighbors and friends. Email info@waldocountydemocrats.com to RSVP or ask any questions you may have.

The Maine Dems Platform Committee is beginning its work, and Waldo County Dems are invited to make our own recommendations for the 2024 Platform. Our representatives to the Platform Committee – Mary Greenier, Sue Conard, and Josh Goldstein – will host a meeting next month for interested Dems to talk about platform issues and propose possible changes. WCDC will vote in October about any proposals we want to forward to the state committee. Here’s a link to the 2022 MDP Platformto review. Email us if you’d like to be part of the discussion.

WCDC has started planning for a public forum Sunday, October 15 at 1pm, on ballot referendum questions related to a consumer-owned utility, two of eight referendum questions on the ballot this November 7. Voter education will play a pivotal role in the election and right now most all of the information about the questions is coming through paid groups on one side or the other. We have commitments from both Pine Tree Power and the Maine Affordable Energy Coalition to participate. We’re working to get a venue for that afternoon for a 1-1/2 to 2-hour forum with moderated Q&A based on written questions from the audience.

Our pie sale at the Belfast Street Party was a big success. We made money for WCDC, registered 7 voters, and enlisted several new volunteers and potential members. We’re so grateful to volunteers Leslie Blanchard, Mary Lou Carhart, Jan Geller, Cheryl Cassidy, Paul Robie, Karen Young, Jan Dodge, Lynn Crawford, and Pam Chase, as well as all our fantastic pie-bakers – thank you!

The Contest Every Race Grant we received in July is a national program with over 300 grantees from 30 states, including 3 in Maine (Waldo, Franklin and Kennebec Counties). Grantees work on scheduled Monthly Actions, such as Candidate Recruitment and Direct Voter Contact and GOTV. We complete specific projects related to the month’s topic, such as a phone bank or an informational meeting, to qualify for the funding each quarter. We can also qualify by completing other “generic” projects, such as holding monthly meetings, sending postcards, or doing outreach to volunteers or voters. The grant offers a number of benefits, including monthly topical trainings open to any interested Democrat. We also have access to a free texting program that we could experiment with for outreach and communications. Another valuable benefit is the ability to connect with the 300+ other grantees in rural areas across the country. If you’re interested in the grant activities and trainings, the schedule of Monthly Action topics and trainings for the next several months is below. Sign up for all trainings with this link (please note, times shown online may be Central time; times in the table below are Eastern). Email info@waldocountydemocrats.com to get involved!