A DPBC Announcement

by DPBC Chair Marisol Enriquez

DPBC Chair Marisol Enriquez

Welcome to 2024, Democrats in Bernalillo County, and may it be a Happy New Year! 

Let’s begin with a thank you and an announcement! 

First, I’d like to offer a huge thank you to Elisabeth Serna for her superb work with the county party. Elected 2nd Vice Chair in April 2023, she has been a huge asset in the development of our communications and social media team. Even before her election, she offered support behind the scenes to make the party as strong as possible.

As this year wound to a close, Elisabeth correctly intuited that 2024 would be a demanding year for her and DPBC. Following a promotion to a supervisory role at the hospital where she works, she recognized that she could not offer the time necessary to continue in her elected capacity for the party. Because of that, she made the difficult decision to resign from her position. While Elisabeth is continuing to offer her support when she is able, we will miss her contributions and boundless positivity.

Fortunately, the 2nd Vice Chair position was not open for long. I am excited to announce that I've appointed Anami Dass to the role of 2nd Vice Chair! As part of her responsibilities, Anami will take on the program area of training and support for Ward and Precinct Chairs. She's already dug into the work, and we're eager to see her help shape the party.

Please read on for Anami's bio: 

Anami Dass, DPBC 2nd Vice Chair

Anami Dass is a harm reductionist working in the International District of Albuquerque. She has used her lived experience of homelessness and substance misuse to inform her work in public health as well as public policy in the hopes of improving conditions for people who are without shelter now. Her background in public health education has led to increased access to service, but more importantly it has served to bridge the gaps in understanding between people who do drugs, and people who work with people who use drugs. She hopes to bring that lens to the table in all areas of her work. Locally, Anami sits as Chair of City's Human Rights Board, where she has worked with the Office of Civil Rights to strengthen legislation to better protect the rights of LGBTQ+ people, people with disabilities, and people who are pregnant. As a transgender woman, Anami is proud to serve as Secretary of the LGBTQ+ Caucus for the state in addition to her role as 2nd Vice Chair for the Democratic Party of Bernalillo County. She hopes to contribute to the training and development of her fellow newcomers to the party.

Please join us in welcoming Anami Dass! 

The 2024 Election Calendar Starts Now

By DPBC Leadership

The 2024 general election is on Tuesday, November 5. That day may seem far off, but the process to get there has already begun.

November 5 is the endpoint of what will be close to 10 months of elections. There will be pre-primaries, primaries, and post-primaries. Not every BernCo Democrat will be actively involved in each vote, but we all have the opportunity to play a critical role in ensuring that our candidates, from the top of the ballot on down, greet November 6 as victors.

To kick off this stretch of elections, we have the pre-primary process. During the pre-primary period, DPBC will hold elections at the ward level to elect county delegates. These county delegates then serve as electors at the statewide pre-primary. The statewide pre-primary determines which Democratic candidates will appear on the primary ballot and the order in which they will appear.

New Mexico’s primary will be held on Tuesday, June 4, 2024. The winner of that election goes on to November’s general election. However, also occurring after the primary is the aptly named post-primary. This is when New Mexico Democrats vote on candidates running to be our national delegates at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Those national delegates will then affirm the results of New Mexico’s Presidential primary to the national party.

(Is this, perhaps, a little too complicated? Yes. But we’re Democrats; when things are overcomplicated we do our finest work.)

So, over the course of this year, we will be providing a variety of updates on these elections through all of our communication channels. That makes it more essential than ever to subscribe to the Blue Review, follow us on social media, and know who your ward and precinct chairs are. (Don’t know who your ward and precinct chairs are? Respond to this newsletter with your name and voter ID, which you can find here, and we will put you in communication with the right people.)

In addition to making sure you’re plugged into our vast communication network, please double-check your voter registration info before January 10, 2024. To be involved in the pre-primary process, you need to be a registered New Mexico Democrat by that date. To register to vote, check your registration, or update it to your current address, head to NMVote.org.

Democracy is messy, and this year will be both a sprint and a marathon. It’s easy to get overwhelmed, but know that Bernalillo County Democrats have proven time after time that we will do the hard work to accomplish great things. 

Stay tuned. Stay positive. Stay involved, and let’s take these first steps into 2024 together. 

Navigating the NM Legislature's Website

By Lance Chilton

Just before the 2023 Legislative session, the Blue Review published my guide for using the New Mexico Legislature’s informative website. The articles, which we link to below, will help you uncover the website’s many features:

• A legislation database that goes back as far as 1996 and includes legislative text, what happened to the bill, and related analysis
• A list of legislators and their contact info
• Special committees and floor sessions livestreams
• Legislative Educational Study Committee (LESC) or Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) publications
• The schedule for each day’s committee hearings and floor sessions

Here's a summary of the five parts of the guide:

Part 1 is a quick summary of what can be found on each tab on the website.

Part 2 walks you through how to find your senator and your representative (or any of the other 110 of them), how to contact them, what committees each serves on during the session and in the gap between sessions (interim committees), and what legislation they have sponsored.

Part 3 will help you research any piece of legislation dating back 27 years by entering a bill number, a keyword, a general subject, or the bill’s sponsor. Then you can discover what happened to the bill or, for current legislation, where the bill is being heard. And you can access the analysis done on every bill by the LFC or some bills by the LESC.

Part 4 introduces you to two tabs on the website: Committees and Webcasts. The Committees tab lists each session-time committee for the House, Senate, and each interim committee. The members are listed, with links to each member’s individual page. You can access agendas for the next meetings there as well. On the Webcast page, you can virtually attend committee meetings or floor sessions while they occur or view recordings of past meetings and sessions dating back to 2017.

Part 5 takes note of most of the other links on the home page. "Publications" lists extensive reports from LFC and LESC on diverse subjects from home-visits for newborns to Medicaid fraud to legislating learning time and school counseling. You can also find other state agencies' reports there as well. In "What’s Happening," upcoming committee and floor session agendas are found. Clicking "Quick Links" provides additional useful info.

(Not mentioned in the five-part guide is the tab "Library," which discusses the Legislature’s library of both print and digital files, its open hours, and its checkout policies.)

I hope this brief summary and its links will get you where you need to go on New Mexico’s excellent legislative website, both during the 30-day session beginning January 16 and before and after the session. The website is always available and costs just as much as our legislators are paid: nothing at all.

A New Year. A New Donation.

You've probably noticed that we've increased our messaging around donations over the past month or so. (See our latest example from social media by clicking the play button to the left.)

Well, that's because we've got a big 2024 planned for BernCo Democrats. We're working to improve our training, keep more people informed, and do everything we can to get more Democrats into voting booths come November.

But we can't do it without you.

By becoming a monthly DPBC donor, you're putting your money directly into the community you support. We're an all-volunteer team, so every dollar you contribute goes directly to action. It's the best way to go all out and keep Dems on top.

So, join us in our New Year's resolution to keep BernCo blue by setting up a monthly donation.

Find Your Voice at the Blue Review

The Blue Review is aiming to expand its coverage, reach new audiences, and grow its team.

To do that, we're looking to fill these roles. Check them out, and let us know if you're interested!

5 Things We Read, Watched, or Listened to This Week (January 2 Edition)

If you’d like to share an article, book, podcast, video, or another piece of media that impacted you, email us at info@bernalillodems.org with a link and a quick note about why you want to share it.

1. "After Sandy Hook, they voted no. Now these senators want new gun laws," The Washington Post

Pull quote: "I’d rather, in my record, have a vote to take some significant steps, even with the risks involved politically and policy wise, to reduce the access to weapons, these assault weapons. Looking back, I mean, given what’s happened in another 10 years … the emotional security in a civilized society. And you got to think it’s contributing in some ways to just the sense in America that things aren’t quite right."

2. "His Shock Win Flipped a Pennsylvania County. Now He Vows to Raise Hell over Its Lethal Jail," Bolts

Pull quote: "The day before the election, [Incoming County Commissioner Justin Douglas] posted on TikTok urging people to vote, a standard campaign move with an atypically specific appeal: 'What got me into this race is prison reform,' he said. 'Restorative justice is the solution, and we need that throughout Dauphin County.'"

3. "Minimum-wage workers in 22 states will be getting raises on Jan. 1," NPR

Pull quote: "According to EPI data, nearly 58% of workers who will benefit from the coming wage increase are women. Nine percent are Black and nearly 38% are Hispanic."

4. "Holding grief close and sharing it in New Mexico’s dry sandbeds," Source NM

Pull quote: "There isn’t a right way to grieve. Sometimes, I think I’m doing it so wrong.

But it is good too, to take a walk in the mountains who’ve known us our whole lives, to see a different river each time, even if much of it remains sandbed. It is love to care for things, even as they slip away from us. It is love to teach my nephews the names of the plants, to see them adore Earth’s living things so dearly."

5. "Amid changing climate, schools are getting and giving lessons," Santa Fe New Mexican

Pull quote: "Despite its destruction, the [Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire] inspired some good things, too.

A slew of area students have selected new educational and career goals: firefighting and forestry management. Mora High’s class of 2023 spawned four firefighters, and Castillo’s son is now studying biology in college in hopes of going into forestry management."

Submit your Community Announcements here. Deadlines are every Monday at noon.

Save Our Democracy Rally

Join us for stories from elected officials and activists — including DPBC Chair Marisol Enriquez — remembering the Jan 6, 2021 Insurrection and its implications for democracy now.

Albuquerque Civic Plaza

Saturday, January 6, 2024

12:00 PM to 1:00 PM

Our democracy is at risk unless we save it.

Grand Slam For Sam

Join Sam Bregman and his son, two-time World Series champion Alex Bregman, on Friday, January 12th, to discuss Sam's plans for the DA's office and gain insights into Alex's experiences. Discover more about Sam's campaign and how his policies align with our community. Please RSVP at brittany@Bregmanforda.com.

5:30 PM - VIP Meet and Greet

6:30 PM - Start of the Reception

Address sent upon RSVP

Friday, January 12th, 2024 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM

https://www.facebook.com/events/935792527966992

Brittany@bregmanforda.com

Congregation Albert Brotherhood Deli Brunch with Bernalillo County DA Sam Bregman

Congregation Albert Brotherhood is sponsoring a timely and important program featuring guest speaker Bernalillo County District Attorney, Sam Bregman. The Deli Brunch and presentation will be held at Congregation Albert, 3800 Louisiana Blvd. NE, on Sunday January 21, 2024, at 10:00 am. The cost for the Brunch and Speaker is $20.

Reservations can be made by email to: brotherhood@congregationalbert.org. Please include name, number of people, and a phone number. $20 tickets can be paid for at the door by cash or credit card.

Advance online payments may be made on Venmo at @CABABQ OR at https://congregation-albert-brotherhood.square.site/

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