We are in the midst of our DPNM SCC elections. While we wait for the second ballot run-off to be tallied and for the third ballot to be sent out, we are excited to report the following candidates have won their elections.

From Ballot 1:

DPNM Chair: Jessica Velasquez

DPNM Vice Chair: Manny Crispin

DPNM Secretary: Isaac Dakota Casados

DPNM Treasurer: Rayellen Smith

From Ballot 2, Vice Chairs:

CD-1: Tiffany Stevens and Greg Seely

CD-2: Mona Trempe and Stephen Jones

CD-3: Run-offs for both positions

From Ballot 2, Affirmative Action Committee:

CD-1: Joslyn Gobaldon and Marcos Balido

CD-2: Danny Bernal and Ashley Sarracino

CD-3: Deanna Crask and Tate Turnbough

From Ballot 2, Budget & Finance Committee:

CD-1: Carl Peterson and a run-off for the non-male position

CD-2: Mary Mulvihill and a run-off for the non-female position

CD-3: Trish Ruiz and Paul Dirdak

From Ballot 2, State Platform & Resolutions Committee:

CD-1: Paul Szauter and a run-off for the non-male position

CD-2: Nicole Olonovich and Jerry Morris.

CD-3: Judy Stubbs and Jay Levine

Ballot 3 will be sent to SCC members once the run-off election has been tallied and announced. As a reminder, SCC members should contact sccvoting@nmdemocrats.org with any issues regarding their ballot.

Jessica Velasquez

Manny Crespin

Rayellen Smith

Isaac Dakota Casados

Our team here at the Blue Review would like to offer you the opportunity to have a voice in our newsletter. Is there an issue of importance in local and state politics you think others in the party need to be aware of? Do you have upcoming community-building events you’d like party members to participate in? Please submit your events through our website and submit ideas for articles to info@bernalillodems.org. 

We here at the Blue Review are undergoing a transition from Jennie Lusk, long-time editor for the Blue Review, to Jake Stern-Powell, 1st Vice Chair of DPBC.

The Democratic Party of Bernalillo County would like to give a huge thanks to Jennie for her years of dedication to the role of editor at the Blue Review. Her previous press experience has lent a professionalism to the Blue Review that couldn’t have been achieved without her. Seeking timely and relevant stories from experts in their areas, Jennie helped the newsletter become a stable source of information, perspective, and current events for our party. In terms of newsletter open rate, the Blue Review is almost double the industry standard for political organizing, and we only hope to improve upon that. Thank you, Jennie, for your years of dedication to this important publication!

Addressing Issues and Empowering Our Communities!

By Jane Yee, DPBC Resolutions Committee Chair

The Democratic Party Bernalillo County (“DPBC”) Resolutions Committee is a powerful tool to build grassroots involvement in the Democratic Party of New Mexico (“DPNM” and “Party”). That grassroots involvement results in better legislation and greater voter turnout. The county resolutions committees are often places where we can start campaigns to improve our communities. Resolutions committees put our communities’ concerns in formal resolutions that we can then use in our advocacy within our wards and counties, at the statewide Party leadership level, and, last but not least, in the advocacy directed at our elected officials.

Resolutions are effectively planks of the DPNM Platform. To view the 2022 DPNM Platform, click here. The Party Platform and resolutions reflect the Party’s core values. However, resolutions are typically more specific. Resolutions usually contain specific action items for a prescribed time period. As such, resolutions bring the Party’s core values alive. For example, DPBC Ward 15D and, later, the Environmental Justice Caucus (“EJC”) used a resolution on community solar to lobby legislators to help win passage of the Community Solar Act in 2021 and to give voice to consumer and community advocates during a subsequent administrative rule-making. The EJC currently bases its work to educate the community on the importance of “keeping the community in community solar” — that is, maintaining community ownership and control of these facilities — on this Resolution.

DPBC Resolutions Committee wants to know the most urgent issues that we need to address in our work in the DPBC and DPNM. We will distribute a survey this week to ward chairs to begin the conversation. In addition, Chair Enriquez has invited the DPBC Resolutions Committee to the ward leadership meeting on May 9 to begin a discussion on issues related to the Party Platform and Resolutions. For example, how do we build unity as a Party around the Platform? How do we use resolutions to enact and implement policies that empower our communities, especially the working people and people of color? How do we uplift the voices in our communities that have been historically marginalized? If you are interested, please join the ward leadership meeting on May 9!

Resolutions Appointment Announcement

The Democratic Party of Bernalillo County is happy to announce the appointment of Jane Yee as Resolutions Committee Chair! Jane has a rich history of activism inside and outside of the County Party. We are grateful she will be bringing this rich experience to the Resolutions Committee whose work is to bring grassroots activism into our State Party Platform. Please help me in congratulating and welcoming Jane! 

Jane L. Yee

Jane L. Yee has served on the Democratic Party, Bernalillo County, Resolutions Committee since 2019 as a representative of Ward 15D (formerly Ward 17B). She has helped write resolutions on a broad range of policy matters for the approval of the County Resolutions Committee, as well as the State Platform and Resolutions Committee on which she served as the 2021-2023 Congressional District 1 representative. She also serves the Democratic Party from the grassroots as an active member of the Adelante Caucus and a founding member and officer of the Environmental Justice Caucus. As a member of the Democratic Party, a community activist, and a public interest lawyer, she strives to work in meaningful consultation with affected communities to forge strong policies that advance social, economic, and environmental justice.

We’re rolling out a new feature this week designed to share some of the things we read, watched, or listened to over the past seven days. Our goal is to help inform, inspire, and, just maybe, engage in some levity

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. “Edgewood passes ordinance restricting abortion access, despite legal concerns,” Source NM

Key quote: “This site for arguing abortion is not Edgewood, it is the Supreme Court and it is the state of New Mexico. This town needs roads, it needs the library, it needs schools.”

2. “Book Ban Proposal Causes Stir At Council Meeting,” Rio Rancho Observer

Key quote: “I think we are doing quite a few things in this country that are leading to fascism. Please don’t ban books,” [Rev. Judith Deutsch] said.

3. “Homeless in the City Where He Was Once Mayor,” The New York Times

Key quote: “If he had been a dog, [his daughter] said, somebody would have rescued him long ago.”

4. “Montana Rep. Zooey Zephyr sues over removal from House floor,” AP News

Key quote: “Suicide amongst transgender youth is not imaginary. It is not a game and it is not a political foil. It is real. It is heartbreaking. And it is the responsibility of my representative to speak out against bills promoting it.”

5. Roy Wood Jr.’s full set at the White House Correspondents Dinner, YouTube via the Washington Post

Key quote: “We should be inspired by the events in France. They rioted when the retirement age went up two years to 64. They rioted because they didn’t want to work until 64! Meanwhile, in America, we have an 80-year-old man begging us for four more years of work. Begging! Begging! ‘Let me finish the job!’ That’s not a campaign slogan, that’s a plea!”

BernCo Mountain Dems 1st Thursday Speaker Meeting

The BernCo Mountain Dems warmly invite you to join us for our 1st Thursday Speaker Meeting on May 4th, 6:30 PM at Rock Canyon Cider! ALL ARE WELCOME!

340 NM-333, Tijeras, NM 87059

NM House Dems Campaign Kickoff Fundraiser (NMHDCC)

Join Speaker Javier Martínez and other House Dems for the New Mexico House Democratic Campaign Committee's (NMHDCC) Campaign Kickoff for the 2024 Election Cycle.

We will be celebrating our legislative victories this session and kicking off our efforts to support our majority in the New Mexico House of Representatives.

Address available upon RSVP (see flyer for info to RSVP)

https://secure.actblue.com/donate/bakers2023

Come celebrate our mentor and friend Cheryl Harris! After volunteering for progressive politics for over a quarter century in Bernalillo County, NM, Cheryl is leaving the state for her next adventure in life. Join us as we send her off with a fond farewell!

11th Annual Senator Michael Padilla Job Fair

June 14, 2023 - 10am - 2pm

You are invited to participate in my 11th annual job fair. This is a free event. Results have been amazing every year!

Our family, friends and neighbors need jobs. I want to help you find your next top team members! Register for this free job fair today. This job fair is for W2 employers only and is a free public service I have provided for eleven years. Register here.

Please help me spread the word by forwarding this email. Our largest job fair featured 126 employers and had over 5,500 job seekers. This job fair attracts potential employee candidates with a wide array of skillsets.

Job Fair provided by Senator Michael Padilla. Funded by Michael Padilla for State Senator, Sylvia Molinar, Treasurer.

Harrison Middle School

3912 Isleta SW

Albuquerque, NM 87105

Register for National Democracy Summer School

Recruiting high school and college students to be Stansbury Scholars in the National Democracy Summer SchoolRep. Melanie Stansbury's campaign will be participating as an affiliate in the 2023 National Democracy Summer School! This one-of-a-kind Democratic program—founded by

Congressman Jamie Raskin and expanded across the country in an historic partnership with the DCCC—is dedicated to training and educating the next

generation of political activists and visionary leaders.

This virtual six-week program will take place from Monday, June 26, 2023 - Monday, August 7, 2023 and requires a commitment of about 4 hours per week. We’ll host live educational sessions with unmatched leaders and facilitate in-depth discussions and activities over Zoom.

Past Democracy Summer School speakers have included House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Professor Laurence Tribe, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, Rep. John Lewis and Civil Rights leaders Bob Moses and Rev. William J. Barber II, and other distinguished speakers and experts in their field.

Finally, Scholars will also host at least one voter registration or voter education event in collaboration with other participants. More information is available at dccc.org/democracysummer

Please share this information with high school and college students! Applications are due by April 14. For more information contact Donna Lockner at melanieforcongress@melaniefornm.com.

Virtual meetings via Zoom

Approximately 4 hours per week June 26-August 7

Our social media team has been working hard since January 2023 to create eye-catching, informative TikTok videos about Democratic accomplishments in New Mexico. These videos are pushed to other platforms, including Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

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