Events thru Dec 2019: Downloadable PDF

Debate Watch Party, Wed, Nov 20
at Jan Fletcher’s home. “We will provide coffee & tea plus a snack. Bring your beverage of choice and a snack to share and try to arrive about 7:30 to give us time to set up food & drink and talk before the debates.

The debate will begin at 8:00 on MSNBC.
It will stream for free on MSNBC.com or washingtonpost.com from Atlanta, GA. Audio of the debate can be heard on Sirius XM Channel 118 and on TuneIn.
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Monthly Meeting, Nov 21, 2019

Grayson County Democratic Party meeting.
Different date and location.
Because of Thanksgiving, our Nov meeting
will be on the 3rd Thursday, Nov 21,
at China Star, 2324 Texoma Parkway,
one block south of Hwy 82.
5:30 meet and greet, 6:00 meeting
New friends always welcome!  Wheelchair accessible

The season of giving is upon us! Let us once again make a difference to the homeless of Grayson County. We will take up a collection at our November meeting (11/21 at China Star) to donate funds to The Dining Car of Sherman.

NOTE: All current and new candidates for Grayson County Democratic Party Precinct Chair must submit a notarized application to Glenn Melancon before 6:00 pm, Dec 9, 2019. Best to bring it to the Nov 21st meeting. Applications can be found here.
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CHRISTMAS PARADES!

This will be our third year to join in the holiday parades! Denison’s parade is Thursday, Dec 5 at 6 pm. We will need to be in our assigned place by 5 pm and ready to go. The Sherman parade is Sat, December 7, also starting at 6 pm.

Please consider being a part of this fun community event, which always has a large crowd turn-out for both parades. Regardless of the weather, we need a group of at least 20 people to march and carry banners. Russell Foster, candidate to replace Ratcliffe, has graciously agreed to donate his pick-up truck and we may have a trailer. The vehicles must be decorated with a semblance of the parade theme. If you can be part of the team (solution), please meet at Panera’s on US 75 in Sherman at 7 pm on Monday, December 2 at 7 pm for planning. Decisions on the decorations and volunteer assignments can be determined at that time.

Details on themes, times and locations will be available at the November GCDP meeting this Thurs, Nov 21, at China Star Buffet.
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Our Annual “Almost New Year’s” Social will be Saturday, Dec 28, 2019 from 6 – 8 pm at 903 Brewers. Come celebrate the end of 2019 and Be Part of the Solution for 2020! We will share a pot luck dish with a cash bar. There are some great door prizes planned for a $20 donation per first ticket and $5 per additional ticket with 2 wins per family. We hope this will add some extra funds to our kitty.
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No Kaffee Klatch in December, 2019
See you January 11, 2020

Second Saturdays (except for Dec) at Panera Bread from 8:30-10:30am, the “Kaffee Klatch” is a meet and greet sponsored by Democratic Women of Grayson County. With a come and go format, you may purchase your favorite brew then join us for an informal conversation and connect with others in our community.
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2020 Democratic Candidates for President

Democratic Candidates for U.S. Senate against Cornyn

Texas Democrats’ Path to Victory
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TDP Distributed Canvass Instructions for Officers, Pct Chairs and volunteers. Walk targets without cutting a VAN list.

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Contribute now! If you’ve saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately:

Contact your representatives
US Senator John Cornyn (202) 224-2934
US Senator Ted Cruz (202) 224-5922
US Representative JohN RAtcliffe: (202) 225-6673
Texas State Senator Pat Fallon: (512) 463-0694
Texas State Representative Reggie Smith: (512) 463-029

2020 Candidates in local races

If interested in running for any of these offices, or if you know someone you would like to recommend, please email GCDP. Filing deadline is December 9, 2019.
SOS Candidate’s Guide

County Commissioner Precinct 1, Jeff Whitmire, Republican
County Commissioner Precinct 3, Phyllis James, Republican
15th Judicial District Judge James (Jim) P. Fallon,, Republican. Term Ends: 12-31-2020
59th Judicial District Judge Larry Phillips, Republican
Sheriff Tom Watt, Republican
Tax Assessor-Collector Bruce Stidham, Republican
Justice of the Peace Pct 1, Larry Atherton,, Republican (read Office moves to GC courthouse)
Constables for Precincts 1, 2, 3, and 4:
     Tommy Carter, Michael Putman, Todd Booher, Bob Douglas, Republicans

Texas House of Representative, District 62, against Rep. Reggie Smith, Republican
Democrat Gary Thomas from Denison is running against Smith!

U.S. House of Representatives, District 4, Rep. John Ratcliffe, Republican
Democrat Russell Foster from Sherman is running against Ratcliffe to represent Dist 4 in the US House!

State Board of Education, District 9
Democrat Brenda Davis, a professional educator from Bonham, has announced her candidacy for State Board of Education in 2020.

Keven Ellis, a Republican from Lufkin, serves as the District 9 representative on the SBOE. He was elected to a four-year term on Nov. 8, 2016 and represents 31 Northeast Texas counties. Ellis is a member of the board’s Committee on School Initiatives, which oversees agenda items on topics such as charter schools, State Board for Educator Certification rules and school board member training.

SBOE District 9 includes 31 Northeast Texas counties:
Anderson, Angelina, Bowie, Camp, Cass, Cherokee, Delta, Fannin, Franklin, Grayson, Gregg, Harrison, Henderson, Hopkins, Hunt, Kaufman, Lamar, Marion, Morris, Nacogdoches, Panola, Rains, Red River, Rockwall, Rusk, Shelby, Smith, Titus, Upshur, Van Zandt, and Wood.

https://tea.texas.gov/About_TEA/Leadership/State_Board_of_Education/Board_Members/SBOE_Member_District__9/

https://tlc.texas.gov/redist/pdf/sboe/map.pdf

If interested in running for any of these offices, or if you know someone you would like to recommend, please email GCDP. Filing deadline is first week in December 2019.
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Call Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz: 202-224-3121
Call Rep John Ratcliffe: 202-225-6673

They’ll be used the first time in Nov 2019. We must insist on manual vote counts for verification of these new machines. Especially in Nov. 2020.

Grayson County citizens attended an ES&S demo of their new Express Vote election machine in January, 2019. You mark your choices on a screen similar to what we’ve been using, and then a paper ballot is printed with your choices. You verify your choices and insert the ballot into a scanner for tabulation. Paper ballots will be available for audits and re-counts for 24 months. Watch this demo so you’ll know how it works.

Here’s why Grayson County is getting a new paper ballot system. We need to require frequent audits of manually counted paper ballots. Watch this 22 minute report.

Example of optical scan ballots with ovals to fill in (for example, mail-in ballots):

Additional reading: article from Verified Voting

‘‘The incorrect assertion that voting machines or voting systems can’t be hacked by remote attackers because they are ‘not connected to the internet’ is not just wrong, it’s damaging,’’ says Susan Greenhalgh, a spokeswoman for the National Election Defense Coalition, an elections integrity group. ‘‘This oft-repeated myth instills a false sense of security that is inhibiting officials and lawmakers from urgently requiring that all voting systems use paper ballots and that all elections be robustly audited.’’

“In the 15 years since electronic voting machines were first adopted by many states, numerous reports by computer scientists have shown nearly every make and model to be vulnerable to hacking.”  Voters should demand paper ballots that can be manually counted, and voters should demand that random precincts be audited, ie paper ballots manually counted, after every election. More: The Myth of the Hacker-Proof Voting Machine – The New York Times