Blog Archives - LINN COUNTY DEMOCRATS

LINN COUNTY DEMOCRATS

April 23rd, 2025

4/23/2025

Coffee Klatch for new Democrats set for Thursday

You are welcome to join local Democrats for a get-to-know-you Coffee Klatch for new Democrats in the area. Please join us! All are welcome. The Coffee Klatch will run from 9 to 11 a.m. Thursday, April 24, at The Brim, 630 N.E. Hickory Ave., in North Albany.

April 23rd, 2025

4/23/2025

Protest for Freedom

More than 200 people held a wide range of signs — including a "No King" piñata — for several hours during the afternoon of Saturday, April 19, in downtown Albany, protesting the Trump administraton's awful daily actions and policies. Unlike previous protests on Ellsworth Street, this one was held one block east of Ellsworth on Lyon Street, with protesters lining both sides of the street, from Fifth Avenue almost to Third. The move was done to avoid disturbing the opening day of Albany Farmers' Market. The Linn County Democrats and Mid-Valley For the People organized the protest. The Dems collected food for Fish of Albany and had an information table staffed by Susan Heath and Cathy McGuire. Slate cards with our endorsed school board candidates also were distributed. Two of the Democrats' endorsees, Greater Albany Public Schools Board candidate Stephanie Lunceford and Linn Benton Lincoln Education Service District candidate Michael Thomson participated in the protest and chatted with protesters. Among those holding signs were Barbara Nixon, a retired Methodist minister, and Rev. Hillary Hughes, executive director of Authentic Hope Center for Peace and Development. "I can't think of a better place to be — speaking for and advocating for justice between Good Friday and Easter — than out here on the streets doing this work," Nixon said; "I'm glad to be here.

April 17th, 2025

4/17/2025

Election information and links to endorsed candidates, Albany measure

April 17th, 2025

4/17/2025

Protest planned for Saturday on Lyon Street

Join us for another big protest, from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 19, in downtown Albany. It will be on Lyon Street one block east of the usual protest location on Ellsworth Street. The Linn County Democrats and Mid-Valley For The People are organizing the event — an afternoon of community, connection, and standing up for what matters! Bring a sign, bring a friend, and let’s raise our voices with respect and unity. We intentionally chose Lyon Street for our gathering to give Albany Farmers' Market space to thrive and to make sure everyone in our downtown community feels supported. Saturday will be the 2025 opening day for the market, which runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the City Hall parking lot and along Fourth Avenue between Ellsworth Street and Broadalbin Street. Before the protest, swing by Farmers’ Market and support our amazing local vendors.
***
Please bring nonperishable food items to the protest. Let’s help out our local community.
A Linn Dems table will be set up for collection. At the Hands-off protest April 5, we donated 50 pounds of food and $148 to Fish of Albany
Let’s do it again! Please ensure donations are NOT expired or opened.

April 17th, 2025

4/17/2025

Friday honk-and-wave protests
continue in downtown Albany

The daily chaos, confusion, and cruelty spewing from the Trump Administration has provided ample reason for continuing the weekly honk-and-save protests in downtown Albany. From 4 to 6 p.m. Friday, just bring your signs and opinions to any of the four corners of the Ellsworth Street-Fourth Avenue intersection. Albany Regional Indivisible put out the original call for the weekly action. Last week's protest drew nearly 50 people, including Genny Lynch of Lebanon (above), Brant Ward of Lacomb (above right) and a protester calling for the release of Kilmer Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador and is still being held there.

April 13th, 2025

4/13/2025

Neighborhood Leaders to hear
from endorsed candidates

We hope you will be able to join at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, April 13, for our next pre-election Zoom. (To receive Zoom link, contact Nancy Greenman.
We'll hear from three endorsed candidates — Brad Longman, LBCC Zone 5, Camille Kaplan, Linn Benton Lincoln Education Service District Zone 4, and Kristopher Schendel, GAPS School Board Zone 1.
We'll also provide a training/refresher on the Neighborhood Leader database and the plan for you to pick up campaign material. Because YouTube will not post videos with personally identifying information, we can't record much of the database tour, so please try to attend the zoom if at all possible!

New Neighborhood Leaders will have their Neighborhood Leader lists loaded in the database before Sunday. You'll get an email from NLP Admin ([email protected]) that includes your log-on, password, and other information you'll want to read. If you haven't seen this by Saturday, please check your spam!
Continuing Neighborhood Leaders will have their lists loaded in the next week. This is because your list will only stay active in MiniVan for 30 days and we want you to have that option as near to May 20 as possible.

Last But Not Least!

We can't end without noting the fabulous turnout and wonderful signage we saw on Saturday. Energy, creativity, determination and commitment to democracy are all on our side. When ballots arrive, we'll bring those gifts to thousands of voters and help our fierce defenders of fact-based public education win in every race.
Thanks to each of you and see you on Sunday.
— Susan, Carrie, Mark, Carol, Brenda, Linda, Steve, Donovan and Nancy
Linn Benton Neighborhood Leader Team

April 11th, 2025

4/11/2025

Linn Dems Chair Ben Watts letter to Sen. Merkley:
Firmly oppose and filibuster 'SAVE Act'

April 10, 2025
Dear Senator Merkley,
On behalf of the Linn County Democratic Central Committee, as a firm believer in the foundational right to vote, and as a proponent for Oregon’s safe and secure mail-in voting system, I urge you to oppose and filibuster the so-called "Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act" (SAVE Act), which recently passed the U.S. House of Representatives. While this bill claims to protect election integrity, in reality it creates unnecessary and harmful barriers to voter registration, particularly for marginalized Americans.
The SAVE Act mandates that all voters provide specific documentation proving their U.S. citizenship to register for federal elections. On paper, that may sound reasonable. But in practice, the bill’s specific requirements will create an onerous barrier to voting, particularly for naturalized citizens, the elderly, the poor, and rural voters who may not have access or the means to obtain the limited forms of documentation the bill demands. Many Americans, including those born in rural hospitals or abroad to U.S. citizens, simply don’t have easy access to the kind of “perfect paperwork” this law would require. No one should be denied their vote because they lack a passport or a specific version of a birth certificate.
Equally troubling is the bill’s language allowing states to purge voter rolls based on vague or unverifiable claims of non-citizenship, which may rely on flawed or inconsistent processes or data. The bill allows voter purges “based on documentary proof or verified information that the registrant is not a United States citizen” (Section 2 f) but does not make clear what may qualify to meet this burden of proof. This opens the door to mistaken removals, politically motivated purges, and, as a result, mass disenfranchisement. Our election systems must protect the integrity of the vote without excluding eligible Americans, and I believe that both of these goals are achievable. Safeguards already exist to penalize illegal voting, and current systems have proven effective in identifying the exceedingly rare cases when this occurs. Therefore, the red tape this bill establishes serves mainly to create barriers for those who are constitutionally guaranteed the right to participate.
I’m especially concerned about the impact this legislation will have on women, particularly women who have changed their names due to marriage or other circumstances. This bill makes no allowance for this sort of common name discrepancy across documents. A woman whose birth certificate is in her maiden name and whose ID is in her married name could be denied registration unless she jumps through extra hoops to prove her identity. This bill risks disenfranchising countless women. This oversight was identified during the bill’s consideration in the US House of Representatives. Amendments were proposed to correct for this oversight, but it was intentionally left unaddressed prior to the bill’s passage.
Voting is a right, not a privilege reserved for those who have the time and resources to successfully navigate bureaucratic red tape. I call on you to stand up for democracy and oppose the SAVE Act if it comes to a vote in the Senate. Our democracy depends on an inclusive, accessible system where every eligible citizen can make their voice heard.
Thank you for your continuing work protecting and expanding voting access.
Sincerely,
Ben Watts
Chair, Linn County Democrats

April 05th, 2025

4/5/2025

March news from the Capitol — and beyond

• Oregon lawmakers put forward gun bill on heels of Measure 114 court decision (March 28, Oregon Public Broadcasting
• Federal cuts hit profit providing legal aid to migrant children (March 26, Oregonian/Oregon Live)
• Oregon food banks face shortages after feds halt $500 million in aid (March 25, Oregonian/Oregon Live)
• State budget writers propose broad spending plan featuring some big hikes and decreases
(March 23, Oregonian, Oregon Live
• Federal cuts could compromise state emergency warning system (March 22, Oregonian/Oregon Live)
• Opinion: Stalin, Mao couldn't quell freedom's voice, but Trump did (March 19, Dana Millbank, Washington Post)
• Bills advance to address utility hikes, extreme weather (March 19, Oregonian/Oregon Live)
• Kotek has stayed largely silent about the Trump presidency (March 19, Oregonian/Oregon Live)
• Deportations test limits of courts' power to constrain administration (March 18, Washington Post)
• The Alien Enemies Act: What to know about 1798 law (March 17, Associated Press)
• Kotek: Oregon will continue 'climate action' despite EPA rollbacks (March 17, Oregonian/Oregon Live)
• State wants to seize homes to recoup Medicaid funds (March 16, Oregonian/Oregon Live)
• Ban on 'forever' chemicals passes Senate (March 16, Oregonian/Oregon Live)
• U.S, Department of Education launches civil rights investigation at University of Oregon, other universities
(March 14, Oregon Public Broadcasting)
• Lawmakers target hidden 'facility fees' contributing to higher medical costs (March 13, Oregonian/Oregon Live)
• Oregon lawmakers target plastic utensils, condiments, hotel toiletries with updated bag ban
(March 12, Oregon Capital Chronicle)
• Bill would ban bots and other price-inflating techniques for event tickets (March 11, Oregonian/Oregon Live)
• Gun control Measure 114 declared constitutional (March 11, Oregonian/Oregon Live)
• Job cuts upending lives of Oregon's federal workers (March 7, Oregonian/Oregon Live)
• Bill would allow immigrants to rent homes without showing proof of citizenship (March 6, Oregonian/Oregon Live)
• Bill to mandate bargaining over class size surfaces in Legislature (March 6, Oregonian/Oregon Live)
• Trump's timber directives could sway Oregon forest policies, but market effects remain unclear (March 6, OPB)
• Four charts explain how Trump's federal jobs cuts could hurt Oregon (March 6, Oregon Live)
• Oregon Senate votes to ban 'forever chemicals' in firefighting foam (March 6, Oregon Capital Insider)
• Gov. Kotek, housing advocates push for more housing options, fewer regulations (March 4, Oregon Capital Insider)
• Spending on special education needs revamped formula, researchers find (March 3, Oregon Capital Chronicle)
***
• January stories, video
• February stories

April 04th, 2025

4/4/2025

Cory Booker: ‘These are not
normal times in America’

The New Jersey Democrat delivered a powerful marathon Senate floor speech. He began speaking at 4 p.m. PDT on Monday and concluded Tuesday, more than 25 hours later — a Senate record.
— Thank you, Cory Booker!