Texas Republicans have gone all-in with partisan gerrymandering to both protect incumbents and preserve their mostly white minority rule in this round of redistricting. Their redrawing of districts in Collin County is particularly bad. The Legislature’s first map (click the image for a larger view) for Texas House of Representative districts was made public only on September 30, and this …
What’s the Message
20 May 2020 by Mike Rawlins, County Chair The question that new Democratic activists almost always ask is “What’s our message?” It isn’t “not Trump” or “not Republican”. We always tell candidates to talk about what they’re for before they talk about their opponents, if they talk about them at all. And with the media covering Trump’s mishandling of the …
Sue Me
May 5, 2020 by Woot Lervisit Last week, I applied for a mail-in ballot on the grounds of the COVID-19 pandemic. Also last week, Attorney General Ken Paxton released publicly a deceptive letter about COVID-19 mail-in ballots threatening criminal charges of election fraud. In his letter, Mr. Paxton ignored the pertinent legal issue of physical immunity from COVID-19. Instead, Mr. …
Who Can Run?
March 26, 2020 by Maury Marcus Who can run for the office of President of the United States? Four years ago, one of the candidates for the other party’s nomination, who was serving as governor of Wisconsin, was a college dropout. Another candidate, an uncouth and vulgar slob, had no experience in the art of governing, less than no experience …
Notice of Canvass of Primary Election
DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF COLLIN COUNTY NOTICE OF CANVASS OF THE PRIMARY ELECTION Notice is hereby given of the canvass of the primary election held on March 3, 2020 in Collin County, Texas. The canvass will take place at 12:30 pm on March 12, 2020, at the party headquarters, 1915 N. Central Expressway, Suite 150, Plano, Texas. /s/Michael C. Rawlins County …
LINES AT POLLING PLACES TUESDAY
March 7, 2020 By Mike Rawlins, CCDP Chair The Democratic Party is firmly committed to making sure that every citizen entitled to vote is able to vote and able to vote as easily as possible. Too many people had to wait in long lines to vote in Tuesday’s Democratic Primary. To the extent we could have prevented this we apologize …
What Does the County Tax Assessor-Collector Do?
November 20, 2019 by Mike Rawlins, CCDP Chair Unlike many of our county elected officials, nearly all of us have had some interaction with the County Tax Assessor-Collector. Whether we have renewed motor vehicle registrations or paid property taxes, we have had the duty of writing a check to this person. So, most of us have at least a general idea …
What is a County Commissioner?
Map Credit: Collin County Government Geographic Information System Sadly, most people pay less attention to county government than city government (and they generally pay very little attention to the latter!) A few people know that a County Commissioner is a member of the Commissioner’s Court, presided over by the County Judge, and that it has something to do with county …
What’s a Constable?
Map Credit: Collin County Government Geological Information System by Mike Rawlins, Collin County Chair, Plano TX – 11/8/19 As the filing period for a place on the primary ballot approaches, we’re still looking for people willing to run for some of these offices. And to help identify good prospects, we’re going to tell you a bit about each of these …
How Can I Make a Difference in My City?
Many cities and towns in Collin County are in the process of filling positions on local boards and commissions. Some of these positions require special training but many are filled by local residents like you. Yes, YOU! Applying for these boards and commissions is as easy as filling out a form and submitting it to the city for consideration. The …
The End of Democracy — Unless We Defend It
June 27, 2019 Mike Rawlins, County Chair Today, in a deeply flawed ruling, the Supreme Court of the United States of America ruled that the courts have no power to rule on complaints of explicit partisan gerrymandering, despite that the justices recognized it is undesirable and has negative effects on our democracy. At best, this five to four decision is a shirking …
Ignore the Media Frenzy – Let’s GOTV and Win in 2020
By Sudhir Joshi, Communications Director CCDP. Have you noticed when there is a big event, every news channel covers the event in the same way? This results in a common narrative emerging while opposing points of view are suppressed through lack of media attention. Let me give you a non-political example. When there is a birth or marriage in the British royal family, it …
On Saturday’s Runoffs …
Observations from Another Municipal Runoff By Mike Rawlins, CCDP Chair. There were high visibility runoffs in Dallas, Plano, and Richardson Saturday. Things turned out okay in one city with two Democrats to choose from for mayor, but not so great elsewhere. We congratulate State Representative Eric Johnson for his win as Dallas Mayor. A progressive candidate opposed by the establishment Richardson …
Four Reasons Why Healthcare Should be the Focus of Democratic Campaigns in 2020
By Sudhir Joshi, CCDP Communications Director. In my opinion, healthcare is the most important problem facing America today. The cost of medical care, including prescription drugs is dramatically higher in the US as compared to other developed countries. Millions of American cling to corporate jobs they despise just because they are scared to lose their health insurance. Many are forced to …
The Three Questions All Candidates Must Answer
by Maury Marcus May 26, 2019 Next year (2020), all candidates in all parties, for any office at any level, must be confronted with three definitive choices. Republican statements on these three issues show contradictions, but office-seekers in all parties need to come clear on these three controversies. The first is between two interpretations of the Second Amendment. Wayne LaPierre …
Democrats Hold the Keys to the City of Plano
By Debbie O’Reilly, Women Organizing Women Democrats President Collin County Democrats, Plano is in a fight for its future. The runoff for Plano City Council Place 7 is not just about one seat. It’s not about Ann Bacchus. In Ann’s own words, “It is about protecting Plano’s brand of excellence. It is about keeping control local. It is about honoring …
We Get What We Vote (or Don’t Vote) For
By Mike Rawlins, CCDP Chair. With another odd-year non-partisan election almost behind us, we first want to thank everyone who stepped up to run. It’s a significant commitment of time, energy, and often money, and we appreciate the passion for public service that led you to take the step. Though not as many Democrats won as we would have liked, we …
Tolerance and the First and Second Amendments
By Tarek Lucien Radjef Amendment 1 – Freedom of Religion, Speech, and the Press Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. Amendment …
Our Politics Are Local
Speaker of the House, Tip O’Neill, famously said over thirty years ago that all politics are local. That is especially true as voting begins for the May 4 general election. With city councils, schools boards, and Collin College Board of Trustees on the ballot, these elections are as local as we get. And you need to vote! With extreme reactionary candidates running for several of …
Why We Need to Participate in Census 2020
By Donna Buesing, CCDP Staff Writer Spanish Translation The U.S. Government’s regular Census is approaching. Please do NOT disregard this vitally important bit of paperwork. It may seem to be intrusive, but it truly makes a HUGE difference (or it can) in what happens in our communities. It’s ONLY AFTER 72 years that the specific data is released. That …
Why Is Collin County Important to Democrats?
By Jennifer Mott, Collin County Precinct Chair. Collin County, located just north of Dallas, is the 6th most populous county in Texas and sits adjacent to three other of Texas’s 10 largest counties. We are experiencing some of the fastest population growth in the country, and, according to 2017 census data, Collin County is home to three of the nation’s …
WHAT’S SO?
By Barb Walters, Vice Chair, CCDP. Collin County Democrats turned out in record numbers in November 2018; and although we didn’t turn the county blue, we had some significant wins: Colin Allred is now our Democratic Congressman in CD23; and eight of the thirteen Justices on the 5th District Court of Appeals are Democrats! We registered more voters than even before …
What if ALL Eligible Voters Went to the Polls?
By Tarek Lucien Radjef. About our right to vote … The United Nations Universal Declaration on Human Rights states that “The will of the People shall be the basis of the authority of the government. This shall be expressed by periodic and genuine elections.” Thomas Jefferson observed that “We do not have a government by the majority of the people; …
Importance of Party and Nonpartisan Elections
By Mike Rawlins, County Chair. With the May nonpartisan elections for various city councils and school boards heating up, and with Senator Sanders again announcing for President, there has been a lot of talk about who is and isn’t a real Democrat. This raises an even more basic question about why we even have political parties. I’d like to step …
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