February 3, 2022

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FEBRUARY IS BLACK HISTORY MONTH

What Black History Month Means To Me

By Frederick "Nic" Nickens

Vice-Chair, Collin County Democratic Party

Black History Month is an annual celebration of achievements by African Americans and a time for recognizing the central role they have played in the building and shaping of U.S. history. Also known as African American History Month, the event was originally called “Negro History Week,” created in February 1926 by Dr. Carter G. Woodson, known as the "father of Black history.” February was chosen by Dr. Woodson for the week-long observance as it coincides with the birthdates of both former US President Abraham Lincoln and noted African American leader Frederick Douglass...

(Read More on CollinDemocrats.org)

CALL TO ACTION:

DONATE TO THE COLLIN COUNTY NAACP

Acknowledging Black Americans' contributions to history doesn't start and end with a month of special recognition. Help address inequality in Collin County by supporting our local NAACP.

League of Women Voters Collin County Voters Guide

Find out more about the candidates on your primary ballot! The Collin County chapter of the League of Women Voters has completed its candidate questionnaire process for the March 1 party primaries. All candidates, whether opposed in the primary or not, were invited to participate. Check out the candidate responses via the LWVCC website.

DONATE TO CCDP'S VOTE BY MAIL INITIATIVE

When Democrats vote at full strength, we win. Texas Republicans are trying to cling to power by making voting more difficult, specifically for our more vulnerable populations.  

Collin County Democratic Party has partnered with the Texas Democratic Party to send vote-by-mail applications to likely Democrats over 65 years of age. To participate in this vital program, we must pay close to $5,000.  

Will you send us a donation of any amount today to help us in our efforts to fight blatant voter suppression?  

With the unprecedented mail-in ballot rejection rates as yet another form of GOP-created voter suppression, we are calling Democrats to ensure that they return their ballots on time and have completed all of the required steps.

VOTE BY MAIL APPLICATION TRACKER NOW AVAILABLE

Have you submitted your application for a vote by mail ballot, but have yet to receive it or hear anything about your application? The Texas Secretary of State has now implemented an online tracker app so you can check the status of your application.

SUPPORT THE NEW MAD CHALLENGE!

The Monthly Active Donor (MAD) program has tripled the monthly sustaining donor income in just a few months. MAD already rewards our generous contributors of $10 or more a month with swag and special VIP event invites, but more benefits have arrived!

Now, when you get someone in your network to become a MAD, their donation amount will be added to your MAD level! That means if you already give at the $30 a month Ally level, and you get a friend to do the same, you are bumped up to the Activist level and you will receive Activist-level benefits! We will even contact your network for you.

Join us for an informative session on how this works on Wednesday, February 16 at 6:30 p.m. at the Collin County Democratic Party Office. RSVP here and feel free to bring friends and family along!

When: Wednesday, February 16 at 6:30 p.m.

Where: Collin County Democratic Party Office, 1915 N. Central Expy Suite 150, Plano

MY SNARKY VALENTINE

Republicans are Red,

Democrats are Blue,

Let’s get out the vote,

For candidates who will represent YOU!

We have all felt that our voices aren’t heard by our current GOP representatives. Let’s get their attention by overflowing their mailboxes with snarky Valentines that convey our true feelings about their lack of empathy, compassion, and frankly common sense.

For a $5 donation, we will send a snarky Valentine to a representative of your choice. Follow this link to donate and pick your recipient. If you simply cannot choose, we are happy to send a snarky Valentine to all 5 representatives for $25!

Here's a sample snarky Valentine! The cursive text is, "Dear Ken and Angie, you preach law and order, but you don't think your crimes count. So in 2022, we are going to vote you out. Love, Collin County Democrats. PS: Roses are red, cantaloupe is a melon, Angela is hitched to an alleged felon!"

Covid Update: Collin County has 191,994 confirmed Covid cases. That’s 8,247 more cases than I reported last week and 1,311 of our Collin residents have died (an increase of 41 people). While the number of increased cases is significantly down (7,101 fewer), the number of deaths is much higher.

Commissioner’s Court: Cheryl Williams was absent last week. Since there was no point in putting off public comments during a quick 30-minute meeting, Chris Hill allowed them to return to the beginning of the meeting. Josh Murray was the only speaker and, per usual, he got under Hill’s skin. It’s beautiful to watch! He wanted to know if the commissioners are going to be proactive in distributing information and assisting in testing or if they’re going to continue sitting on the bench doing nothing. He also wanted to know if they’ve developed any operational plans for the new jail. I’m not going to call it a detention facility since I don’t want to soften what the place is...

(Read More)

Collin County School Boards: Schools continue to be a mess, as attempts at book banning are now ongoing in most districts. Since he must distract constituents from realizing he has no good ideas for governing, HD106 Representative Jared Patterson sent letters to every school in his district asking if they have pornography on their shelves. He settled on Prosper ISD, probably because he has backup from their stupid PAC. Although they want 82 books removed from shelves, their current fight is over Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe...

(Read More)

Collin College Board of Trustees: If they’re not careful, Collin College won’t have any good professors left! This time, they fired (er, pardon me, failed to renew the contract of) long-time history professor Michael Phillips. Although he’s a popular teacher and award-winning author, the college decided to let him go because he’d dared to violate their gag order on mentioning masks in the classroom (not demanding students wear them, just encouraging them) and has been an outspoken critic of college president Neil Matkin. Really, anyone who cares about higher education should be a critic of that guy (#MatkinTheMenace)...

(Read More)

Frisco City Council: Just when you thought I was done plugging the Special Election, it turns out that none of the 3 candidates received the 50%+1 needed to declare a win. So now, there’s going to be a run-off in March in which the one with the most votes wins. Frisco Dems, this is where you can truly have an impact! Less than 3% of the entire city voted, so if you all show up and vote for Tracie Shipman, she can win! I’m like a broken record but municipal races are incredibly important because they’re the ones that have the most impact on our lives. They’re also where our votes count the most. Make a plan to go vote in this run-off. Early voting starts on February 14.

McKinney ISD Board of Trustees: Whoever ran the video for this meeting used such a tight focus that I couldn’t see all members of the board. But from what I saw at their December meeting, Larry Jagours was the only one wearing a mask and Chad Green continues to wear his ginormous cowboy hat, even inside. Isn’t that against the rules of good manners? I’ve been told he started wearing the hat shortly after being elected to the board. The most generous interpretation is that he thinks it looks cool, so note to Green: it doesn’t...

(Read More)

Local Politics: I hear from a lot of people who are deeply anxious about our political situation and want to do something to help change it. However, when push comes to shove, they don’t do even the most basic of civic duties: they don’t vote. In city after city – most recently McKinney and Frisco – municipal elections have low voter turnout. McKinney’s special election for a city council seat saw less than 5% of registered voters turn out while Frisco’s saw less than 3%. That’s unacceptable for many reasons but it’s especially abhorrent from Democrats. If the GOP isn’t turning out, that means we have the opportunity to vote in the people we want. If we want a seat at the table, local races are how we get it.

We also need to know what’s happening at the local level. An educated populace tends to vote and, often, they end up running for office. If we want that to happen, we must put in the work. Please sign up to join the team covering your city council or school board. Everyone is welcome. All you need to do is contact me at [email protected] and let me know if you’re interested. Let’s do this!

PRECINCT CHAIR SPOTLIGHT JANUARY 2022

By MJ Martin

It's that time! Time to make the commitment to serve the CCDP for another term. The filing period for Precinct Chairs began on January 15 and runs until February 12. The following precinct chairs have submitted their ballot to continue their term as precinct chair for the next two years beginning June 2022-June 2024.

Michael Walter Agan – 28 Plano

Maury Hal Marcus – 39 Plano

Amanda Massengale – 54 Plano

David (Mitch) Sotelo – 83 Wylie

Celeste Kennedy – 98 McKinney

Frederick Albert Lusk – 101 Frisco

Barbara Jane Walters – 108 Plano

Sharon Anthony Stark – 117 Frisco

Vickie Parker – 125 Richardson

Simon To – 157 Allen

Karen L. Hearne – 230 McKinney

Juley Ann Welch – 179 Fairview

John Turner-McClelland – 53 Plano

Laura Dapkus – 119 Plano

Judith Reiter – 78 Richardson

Stacey Agens – 109 Plano

Submitted on behalf of the Precinct Chair Operations Committee in coordination with the Primary Administration Committee.

Thank you all for your continued service to the Collin County Democratic Party!

EARLY VOTING CELEBRATION

Join Kelly Karthik, candidate for Frisco ISD Board of Trustees Place 2, and 14 Collin and Denton County Primary Candidates for an Early Voting Celebration! She'll be joined by the following candidates:

• Alex Cornwallis, for TX SBOE-12
• Jesse Ringness, for HD-66
• Sheena King, for HD-61
• Iro Omere, for Congress CD-4
• David M. Smith, for Collin County Judge
• Sandeep Srivastava, for Congress CD-3
• Frederick “Nic” Nickens, for Collin County Democratic Chair
• Jeff Williams, for Collin County Commissioner P-4
• Irvin Barrett, for Collin County JP-30
• Kelly Karthik, for FISD Board of Trustees Place 2
• Fabian Thomas, for Denton County Judge
• Diana Weitzel, for Denton County Commissioner Place 2
• Stephanie Gardella, for Denton County JP-2
• Mihaela Plesa, for HD-70

When: Sunday, February 13, 4 - 6 p.m.

Where: Common Desk - Granite Park, 5830 Granite Pkwy STE 100, Plano

THIS DAY IN VOTING RIGHTS HISTORY:

THE 15TH AMENDMENT IS RATIFIED

This Day in Voting Rights History: On this day, February 3, 1870, the 15th Amendment was ratified. The amendment sought to protect the voting rights of African American men after the Civil War. Women were still generally excluded from voting. Despite the amendment, by the late 1870s discriminatory practices—such as poll taxes and literacy tests— were used to prevent Black citizens from exercising their right to vote, especially in the South. It wasn’t until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that legal barriers were outlawed at the state and local levels if they denied African Americans their right to vote under the 15th Amendment.

Today, the fight to protect voting rights is back on in Texas with the new voter suppression law, Senate Bill 1 (SB1). This law has already resulted in vote-by-mail applications being rejected at alarming rates and a lack of voter registration application forms. Now more than ever, we need to elect Democrats to restore and protect our voting rights. To learn more about SB1, see our Know the 2021 Texas Voting Law webpage.

RAWLINS COUNTY CHAIR CAMPAIGN TOWN HALLS

Mike Rawlins’ re-election campaign for County Chair will be holding town halls via Zoom over the next several weeks and invites you to participate! This is a chance to learn Mike’s views on some important topics, ask questions, and have discussions around them. Dates and topics with signup links are:

• Thursday 2/3 7 p.m. – County Party Messaging. Signup link here.
• Wednesday 2/9 7:30 p.m. – Where we go from here. Signup link here.

Hope to see you there!

ELECTIONS 2022: WELCOME TO THE MIDTERMS

Key Voting Dates in 2022

Democrats never miss a chance to vote, and with the coming mid-term election, voting has never been more important. The CCDP will not be endorsing candidates in the Primary, but we have a full list of our Federal, statewide, and Collin County candidates on our Primary candidates page. If you're unsure about your new districts, you can check at the Texas Tribune's district finder app.

Note: Senate Bill 1, signed into law in 2021 and now in effect, made a number of changes to voting in Texas. Please check our page on the new law and make sure you know the new rules.

Democratic Primary Election:

• Last Day to Register to Vote: Monday, January 31, 2022
• First Day of Early Voting: Monday, February 14, 2022
• Last Day to Apply for Ballot by Mail: Friday, February 18, 2022
• Last Day of Early Voting: Friday, February 25, 2022
• Election Day: Tuesday, March 1, 2022

Democratic Primary Runoff Election (If Needed)

• Last Day to Register to Vote: Monday, April 25, 2022
• Last Day to Apply for Ballot by Mail: Friday, May 13, 2022
• First Day of Early Voting: Monday, May 16, 2022
• Last Day of Early Voting: Friday, May 20, 2022 
• Election Day: Tuesday, May 24, 2022

General Election

• Last Day to Register to Vote: Tuesday, October 11, 2022
• First Day of Early Voting: Monday, October 24, 2022
• Last Day to Apply for Ballot by Mail: Friday, October 28, 2022 
• Last Day of Early Voting: Friday, November 4, 2022
• Election Day: Tuesday, November 8, 2022

Collin County Democratic Party (CCDP) | 972-578-1483 | www.collindemocrats.org © 2021

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