District 6 News

Four Democrats to join historically red McHenry County Board...oh, and Lauren Underwood and Sean Casten win, too!

Congratulations to Michael Vijuk, Suzanne Ness, Kelli Wegener, and Carlos Acosta!  They delivered a 1, 2 (3 and 5) punch to oust incumbents in County Board Seats.  Hours and miles of canvassing, lots of determination, and help from hundreds of volunteers made this historic Democratic win possible.  They will be joining Paula Yensen and Chairman Jack Franks in making real change happen in Woodstock.

Unofficial results show Sean Casten & Lauren Underwood winning McHenry County.

From the Northwest Herald article:  "The McHenry County Board got a bit more blue Tuesday night when three Democrats took victories at the polls, according to unofficial results.  'We had our little blue wave here in McHenry County,' said Democrat Kelli Wegener, who won a District 3 seat over incumbent Republican Joe Gottemoller.

Further ballot counting revealed on Thursday, November 8th, that Carlos Acosta had also won in District 5. Congratulations everyone!

The Democratic Party of McHenry County is hitting the ground running!

Come out and see our new office space, then spend an hour or two to canvas or call for the coordinated campaign helping all our candidates.  2022 N Richmond Rd, McHenry, IL  We need you to win.

Office Hours

Sunday 9 am - 9 pm

Monday By Appointment

Tuesday 10:30 am - 8:30 pm

Wednesday 10:30 am - 8:30 pm

Thursday 10:30 am - 8:30 pm

Friday 10:30 am - 4 :30 pm

Saturday 9 am - 9 pm

Points of Contact

JB for Governor Henry 815-616-2041

Democratic Party of McHenry County 847-790-4DEM

                First off, my thanks to Marti Swanson for sending this to me in an email. Second, my apologies to all, but I had a helluva time deciding which slimy categories this best fit into, there were so many deserving of it. This is an article that I think explains a great deal more than we're accustomed to seeing and once again highlights the corruption so rampant in this misadministration in general and the usurper who occupies the Oval Office.---Dan

http://jaxpolitix.com/2018/09/30/jax-politix-good-news-edition/
Jax Politix – Good News Edition v1.0
Jack Altschuler - JaxPolitix - 30 Sept 2018
A partial compendium of Trumpian distractions designed to keep your eye off the ball.
[Part I - Kavanaugh]
The good news associated with the Kavanaugh hearings is that the American Bar
Association called for the nomination process to be put on hold and for the FBI to
investigate the serious new and credible allegations that have been made against
Kavanaugh. In addition, the Jesuits called for Kavanaugh’s nomination to be
withdrawn altogether. That’s quite in contrast to the behavior of the Republicans
on the Senate Judiciary Committee, who continue to refuse to release to
Committee Democrats 100,000 documents pertaining to Kavanaugh’s record.
In this era of the loudest, shrillest, most strident voices, when people who have a
piece of the power of the machine are scratching and clawing to hold on to it and
who will sell their souls to keep it, there still are people of good sense and good
will. We’re all the better for that.
Here’s the really good news to come from this mostly sordid Kavanaugh affair.
Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) was cornered in an elevator by two women survivors of
sexual assault. They confronted him with the intolerable of his knowing of the
accusations against Kavanaugh and yet being likely to vote him onto the Supreme
Court anyway and what that would say to these women and the many women like
them. One of the women, Maria Gallagher, courageously said,
“Don’t look away from me. Look at me and tell me that it doesn’t matter what
happened to me. That you will let people like that go into the highest court of the
land and tell everyone what they can do with their bodies.”
It was a watershed moment of demanding the respect that was due her,
respect that had heretofore been denied and is commonly denied to women who
have been abused in this way. Apparently, it made a difference.
Flake went back to the committee room and agreed to vote Kavanaugh out of
committee with the proviso that there be a delay in a floor vote and an FBI
investigation into the allegations against Kavanaugh.
Jeff Flake just stood up to the President of the United States, Senate leadership
and much of Senate membership in order to do the right thing. Even one man with
a spine is a really good thing.
[Part II - House Republicans Unmasked]
Last year Congress gave away $1.9 trillion in tax breaks and 83% of it went to
wealthy people and corporations. Apparently, that wasn’t enough for them, so as
the nation was focused on the Kavanaugh political drama, the House voted to
up the tax gift to $3 trillion. Gotta wonder where that money will come from.
You don’t suppose it might be taken from Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid,
do you?
That sneaky stuff by Paul Ryan’s House may not sound like good news, but like the
kid finding piles of horse manure in his backyard and declaring happily, “There’s
gotta be a pony here somewhere!” there is some good news in Sneaky Paul’s
behavior.
In their haste to suck all sense from government, House Republicans used the
Kavanaugh cover of darkness to ram this bill through. In doing so, they’ve
shown us conclusively exactly who and what they are. That’s good news.
[Part III - HIV-AIDS]
In the 1970s and -80s the reach and impact of HIV-AIDS was terrifying. There
were no tools to combat it. Now this, from The Boston Globe’s STAT publication,
Just a decade ago, 45,000 people in the U.S. were contracting HIV each year. Now,
the fight against HIV could be undergoing a sea change. Buoyed by the
astonishing impact of effective HIV medications, health officials and HIV experts
are beginning to talk about a future in which transmission could be halted in the
U.S. “We have the science to solve the AIDS epidemic,” CDC Director Robert
Redfield tells STAT.
Now, that’s good news, indeed.
[Part IV - Victims Heard]
Bill Cosby squandered a lifetime of entertainment success by preying upon women
by drugging them and then sexually violating them. He was found guilty of sexual
assault and last week was sentenced to 3 – 10 years in prison plus a $25,000 fine,
as well as having to pay prosecution costs of about $43,000. In addition, his
sentence includes mandatory monthly counseling and Cosby will have to register as
a sex offender if and when he’s released.
The good news is that at last victims were heard instead of shamed and blamed
and that justice, however delayed, was served.
[Part V - One Child Reunited with Parents]
Finally, 141 children are still in U.S. custody after having been ripped from
their parents’ arms and kidnapped by the U.S. government. Reunification is
difficult because after kidnapping the children the geniuses in Washington had
their parents deported and did so without creating documentation that would tie
children to their parents.
That sounds bad, but here’s the good news: A 6-year old girl named Marianita was
reunited with her parents in Honduras last week. That’s why there are 141 assylumseeking
children still in kid prisons in the U.S instead of 142.
————————————

The League of Women Voters hosted a candidate forum at McHenry County College Monday night for candidates running in the 6th and 14th Congressional Districts.  Both incumbent Congressman Roskam and Congressman Hultgren were no shows.  Congressman Hultgren declined the request to attend and Congressman Roskam did not have the courtesy to respond. 

Sean Casten, Democrat candidate 6th Congressional District and Lauren Underwood, candidate 14th Congressional District provided detailed and insightful answers to questions ranging from the environment, health care, tax reform, school violence and returning civility to the political arena.  

Voters in District 2 were not given the opportunity to hear an exchange of ides and policies between incumbant and challenger; too bad.

When is enough enough...

The Democratic Party of McHenry County (DPMC) has been calling for a reduction in the size of the County Board for over 10 years, and on July 31st, the McHenry County Board’s Republican-controlled Ad Hoc Committee on Governmental Consolidation finally made a small but important step toward that goal. Their recommendation would reduce the board to 18 members from its current 24 member size. However, there is no mention of how many districts should be formed, nor how many members would represent each district.  Read more at McHenry County Board to vote on term-limit referendums | Northwest Herald

“I’ve been out talking to voters and they are overwhelmingly in favor of a smaller board and more transparency in government," said Kelli Wegener, Democratic candidate for the County Board for District 3.  "...having one board member per district and smaller districts would lead to better representation.  Board members would be able to get to know more of their constituents and, in turn, those constituents would know just who their board member is when they have a concern.” What is really needed is not just fewer members but single-member districts.

Community Engagement Forums Announced

Do you live in McHenry High School District 156?  Here is your opportunity to learn about your school district and provide feedback to the school board and administration.  The Board of Education is holding a series of community engagement forums to provide information regarding their academic progress, financial status, and challenges they face as a school community.  The first two are scheduled for:

• Wednesday, August 8th at 6:00 p.m.
• Saturday, August 11th at 10:00 a.m.

Both forums will be held at McHenry High School West Campus Auditorium, 4724 W. Crystal Lake Road, McHenry.

Be involved, get the facts, and provide your feedback at these important meetings.  Don't forget - school board elections are April 2, 2019!

You can make a difference this election...

...right here in your own county by being a part of the Coordinated Campaign effort.

The Blue Wave is swelling across the nation, fed every day by outrage over attacks on our democracy and on our families. We can turn the wave into a tsunami that sweeps McHenry County with it. 

More than anything else it takes people to create the wave which will turn the tide here and across the country. We will need a high turnout and every likely Democratic vote in November in order to win.  We cannot leave any potential voter behind.

What can you do?  We have identified 60 precincts critical to our success in November.  Each weekend groups of volunteers will be targeting a few of these precincts looking for voters who are receptive to our message until we cover all 60 precincts.  We need you to join with others and go (in pairs with a fellow volunteer) door-to-door listening to our neighbors about the issues they care about and sharing information about our candidates.  It doesn't take much time - just a couple of hours. It doesn't take any experience - we will train you.  It doesn't take your resources - we will give you everything you need.  You have nothing to lose and we have everything to gain. This effort will impact whether McHenry County rides the 2018 Democratic Blue Wave or continues to be a red desert.

This Is the Moment of Truth for Republicans says James Fallows in The Atlantic

      The Italian poet Dante Alighieri is credited with the statement that "the hottest places in hell are reserved for those who during a time of moral crisis, remain neutral."  In Dante’s great tri-part poem, Paradiso, Purgatorio, and Inferno, the neutrals, those who in this world had never taken any side on any issue, occupy the mouth and vestibule of Hell. There they are condemned to  swirl unceasingly in clouds of red sand, their faces bitten by wasps and hornets. They are doomed to pursue in a blind, fatal, and ultimately hopeless way, a flag which never stays for a moment in one place. Dante denies them the moral dignity of a place even in hell itself. “Heaven will not have them, and the deep Hell receives them not lest the wicked there should have some glory over them”—lest the wicked, that is, looking at these neutrals, should be able to feel a sort of superiority over others. What was the sin of these neutrals? Only this: they had never taken a side.Their ongoing moral neutrality condemns them to an eternity of this treatment. 

      Today we face strongly defined choices. We can pull back into our safe homes and send indignant tweets, instagrams, emails,assure ourselves that somehow,somewhere, some vaguely defined, but immutable, justice will prevail, and we can cry bitter tears over children being separated from their parents at our borders, ala Hitler and the Jews...OR, we can take a position of moral and ethical rectitude.We can work to change the inequities of the situation. How do we do this? We vote. We go out and walk the streets of our precinct, we knock on doors, we talk to citizens, we press out points and we push the need for the population to VOTE. GOTV--get out the vote is our strongest weapon. Trump won election based on the Electoral College, Clinton had considerably more of the popular vote. This time around, Trump can't hide behind the EC--this time, his party has to face the people and defend itself for disrupting families, for the wealthy oriented budget, for the ongoing corruption of this administration and a near endless litany of sins.

      We need every vote, every voter to show up and express their indignation. There is talk of a "blue tsunami," in the mid-terms. Personally, I don't believe it. I want to be proven wrong. The only way to do that is to bring out every voter, to offer the opportunity for transportation to the polls and reaffirm the right of our citizenry to vote and determine its own political destiny.  Another quote, this one in dispute as to its author. Most think it from Edmund Burke. Burke was an Irish political philosopher, Whig politician and statesman who is, ironically, often considered the father of modern conservatism. Burke said ,All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. Let us heed his wisdom. Get out and vote, bring out your neighbors si they vote, bring out your precinct so it votes; bring out the vote.----Dan

At the June 14th Committee of the Whole meeting the County Board tabled a Resolution o Authorize Precincts Boundary Adjustments.  The Resolution would have added 117 new voting precincts effective December 1, 2018.  The Resolution never went through a County Board Committee or had any input from the Democratic Party.  The new boundaries would have made precinct work, especially canvassing, more difficult.  It was apparent from discussion that Board Members were completely blindsided by this Resolution, and in the spirit of bipartisanship, Republican Board Members, Democratic Board Member Paula Yensen, and Democratic Party leadership who spoke during public comments, concluded that this Resolution was not properly vented to merit consideration.  County Clerk Mary McClellan, who made the recommendation for boundary changes, was not present to answer the many questions County Board Members had regarding her proposed boundary changes.

However, this issue is not over!  The County will still need to consider the size of precincts to comply with State guidelines.  Toward that end, County Board Chairman Jack Franks proposed a committee consisting of non-elected citizens to make recommendations on precinct boundaries.  The question now is whether this should be accomplished after the Nov. 6th election or whether it should be considered as part of a larger package including information from the 2020 Census, redistricting, and the future size of the County Board.  Stay tuned!