Election Day is Every Tuesday (5/25-5/31)
This is an incredibly light week, which is nice, cause we’re coming up on some massive races, so it’s good to have a light week.
Monday - CA ballot request
Tuesday - MA and SC
Wednesday - MA and VT
Saturday - MA
We’re literally looking at 3 states, 6 districts. Maybe it’s because of Memorial Day Weekend, who knows.
Anyway, here’s what we have:
A huge massive thank you to my amazing volunteers on this one, Larissa Fuchs, Michelle RF Masters and Jackie!
MON May 26
California
Los Angeles
Neighborhood Council Region 3
Canoga Park
Encino
Reseda
Sun Valley Area
Sylmar
Tarzara
West Hills
Winnetka
Woodland Hills-Warner Center
Hopefully, you know by now that LA has neighborhood council races and they are, without a doubt, one of the least publicized races in the country. Making turnout way less than 1%. These races are special, you can vote as young as 16, and you have to live there OR have a stake in the neighborhood. This means the eligible voting population for any given one of these is probably around 50k-100k, turnout is typically maybe 300. And besides not being well promoted, they also don’t use the same system as the other elections, so you have to reregister every time. MONDAY IS THE LAST DAY TO REGISTER FOR THESE NEIGHBORHOODS
TUES May 27
Massachusetts
Worcester County
Select Board (1 year) - Vote for 1
Shawn R. Buzzell - likely DEM. worked for Veterans Inc. a non profit focused on veterans, mental health and homelessness. Wants to have schools that are well-supported and safe, reliable public infrastructure, responsive emergency services, and a local economy that helps ease the tax burden on residents. (interview)
John A. Kemp
Christine M. Watkins - longtime resident, served the community for more than 30 years including Housing, School Building Committee, and Sutton Elementary School library (interview)
School Committee - Vote for 2
Jennifer L. Darling (incumbent) - believes parent input should be very little regarding classroom curriculum and if parents have questions they can ask the principal since the curriculum is available online.
Christopher M. Matera - LIKELY REPUBLICAN “common sense, parental rights and citing Supreme Court on religious rights” on his Facebook believes that when conflicts occur with state requirements, the school committee needs to step in to understand parents’ concerns and, if necessary, advocate with DESE and our elected representatives for parents and their parental rights.(interview)
Erin Reid-Eriksen - believes in transparency and parents input to be taken into consideration but if parents are concerned by some of the state requirements, they can speak up and advocate to Beacon Hill or DESE(interview)
Planning Board - Vote for 1
April A. Connors - long time resident, experience with community outreach and very involved in the community. Wants to make sure the community is involved in planning. (interview)
David W. Mason - worked in construction for 30 years, support more commercial development in the business areas, ensure the implementation of affordable housing will work toward the goals of the community (interview)
Wesley L. Stanhope - over twenty years of experience consulting with construction developments. For creation of an Affordable Housing Trust Fund and Community Preservation Fund to add money towards affordable housing, historic preservation, and open space. (interview)
2 uncontested races
South Carolina
Bamberg County
Town Council
Derron Cromer - Likey REP, follows Trump Fans on FB
Aaron Dilling - Unsure. No social media presence, no political donations made.
Ashton Florie - Likely REP, follows Trump and Bamberg County GOP on FB
Jason Florie - Unsure, has a FB but no major indicators of political party based on follows & likes, no political donations made. Possibly related to Ashton Florie.
Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester Counties (split between these three counties)
City Council
District 3
Stephanie Ganaway-Pasley (DEM per Ballotpedia, campaign website - mentions people "feel[ing] let down by leaders who’ve put their own interests before ours. Corruption has crept into our government, and we’re paying the price", candidate questionnaire mentions her wanting to require lobbyists to register with the city, report their expenses, and limit their contributions and gifts to city officials.)
Demetria A. Mcneil (Likely DEM - campaign website mentions "Expanding Social Programs – Strengthening education, mentorship, and community support systems to help families and youth thrive" follows NAACP and Matthew Knowles on LinkedIn)
Donnie Signleton (Likely DEM - website mentions affordable healthcare for all, founded an organization that is against gun violence)
Maurice Moe Ray (Likely DEM - campaign website (although it's pretty bare) follows the Jamal Bryant podcast on FB, Jamal Bryant is an ATL/Baltimore-based pastor who at one point ran for a House Rep seat as a dem)
John Peterson (Likely REP - has no campaign website has donated to AmeriPAC which supports Conservative candidates)
Lou Baker (Likely REP - has no campaign website likes "Capitalism, No Socialism" on FB)
Travis Walthall (Likely REP - campaign website, left a review on the Palmetto Truth Project on FB stating it was "clearly just another ill-conceived attempt at sewing misinformation to undermine the integrity of the Freedom Caucus" [[NOTE - I tried to pull up the review on the Palmetto Truth Project page and it wasn't there; however, in looking at Travis' facebook page it does list that he left the review on PTP and lists two other reviews he left of different pages]]. The South Carolina Freedom Caucus is a pro-conservative group.)District 5
Danielle Barnett (Possible DEM - website is the only real information on her & it's limited, but mentions empowering youth programs)
Katryna Johnson (Likely DEM - platform includes affordable housing & reducing homelessness, supported by Moms Demand Action on FB which is a Gun Violence Prevention Group)
Carlos Jones - may have withdrawn (Likely DEM - likes LeVar Burton on LinkedIn, follows Kobe Bryants profile & Vanessa Bryant on Insta as well as one of Lebron James' companies)
Mindy Parish - (Could be either - website specifically mentions Equity & Inclusion although it seems focused on economic status versus racial equality, follows Light of Mine Ranch and Crisis Chaplaincy on FB which are both heavily religious organizations)
John Singletary (no current campaign website) (Likely DEM - old mayoral candidate website references voter suppression and economic inequality of African Americans)
Brandon Trollinger (no current campaign website (Likely MODERATE DEM - hosted Million Man March and Walking Down Hate events on FB, an article from his prior mayoral campaign shows him supporting more educational and after-school opportunities for kids and holding a somewhat centrist to left-leaning stance on gun violence)
Todd Olds - (Possible REP - old youtube short shows him supporting police but also wanting to stop gun violence, but is supported by former mayor Keith Summey who is a republican)
Katesha Breland (Possible REP - endorsed by Post & Courier which is a local right-leaning publication)
Christopher Emde (Likely REP - follows Jim McBride for City Countil page on FB, Jim McBride is a current city councilman in District 3 and received financial campaign support that was likely from Moms for Liberty)
WED May 28
Massachusetts
Plymouth County
Rochester(ballot linked)
8 Uncontested Races
Select Board - UNCONTESTED
Bradford Morse (Incumbent, Likely REP - follows Elect Joe Pires and MAGA Man pages on FB, Joe Pires is a republican Mass State Rep)
Rochester Park Commission
David Hughes (Incumbent, likely REP, appears to have made donations to WINRED PAC which supports convservatives)
Nate Reece (Likely DEM - follows The Onion on FB)
Highway Surveyor - UNCONTESTED
Jeffrey Eldridge (Incumbent, not much info on him other than he was voted Rochester's Man of the Year in 2009)
Board of Assessors - UNCONTESTED
Marcia Kessler (Likely DEM - appears to have donated to ACTBLUE PAC)
Cemetery Commission - No candidates, write-in only
Board of Health - UNCONTESTED
Glenn Lawrence (Incumbent, Likely REP - follows Conservative Americans and a bunch of pro-DT pages on FB)
Library Trustees - UNCONTESTED (Two open positions)
Kimberly Burt (Incumbent, not much info on her, has a bare bones LinkedIn profile)
Michael King (Incumbent, Likely DEM - liked post by Andrew Cuomo on LinkedIn)
Rochester Memorial School Committee
Kirsten Jimenez (Likely DEM - has lots of rainbow imagery and a picture with a rainbow "Ally" circle on Facebook)
Barbara Lee (Cannot find much info on her, her campaign FB page has a red sign but that's all I can find that might hint to her affiliation)
Planning Board - UNCONTESTED
Michael Murphy (Incumbent, Likely REP - appears to have donated to Trump & WINRED PACs)
Water Commission - UNCONTESTED
Richard Charon (Incumbent, Likely REP - donated to Romney PAC in 2012)
Constables - UNCONTESTED (Two open positions)
David Hughes (Incumbent, likely REP, appears to have made donations to WINRED PAC which supports conservatives)
Marc Slabodnick (Incumbent, likely REP, appears to have made donations to WINRED PAC which supports conservatives)
Ballot Question
Vermont
Rutland County
Special Town Meeting (interview with the 4 candidates)
Select Board (1 year) - Vote For 1
Jay K. Hickory
Jon Wysocki
Select Board (2 years) - Vote for 1
David McComb
Bill Vines
SAT May 31
Massachusetts
Plymouth County
Select Board
Position 1:
Maryanne Lewis (former Dem, now conservative Independent, career politician/attorney),
Freya Schlegel (massage therapist).
Position 2:
Nicolai P. Afanasenko (Chiropractor, pro-accessibility and preserving public spaces, wants to keep the beach free),
David F. Dauphinee Sr. (wants people to have to pay to go to the beach, owns three businesses). Housing Authority: Francis J. Buckley (Senior Vice President at a bank, has voiced environmental concerns), William Edward Geary (incumbent).
8 uncontested races,
1 race with no candidates
Told you this was an easy week. I’d love to know if you got something out of this week’s post!
Comment with ▲ if you either got something out of this guide yourself or if you sent it to someone who might have one of these elections!
Your vote is your voice and that voice is your superpower, but only when you use it!
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