York-Ogunquit Democratic Committee Letter to Fellow Democrats on January 2, 2024

January 2, 2024

Greetings fellow Democrats from the York-Ogunquit Democratic Committee (YODC),

We hope you had wonderful holidays and send you our very best wishes for a New Year filled with peace, prosperity, and the election of many Democrats!

As you well know, 2024 is a critical election year to protect our democracy, and continue the policies championed by Democrats.  The YODC will be focused on electing Democrats at the county, state, and national levels.  Here are the races that involve our towns and will be determined in 2024:

County

            Probate Judge

State

            U.S. Representative, 1st District (Chellie Pingree (D), incumbent)

            U.S. Senator (Angus King (I), incumbent)

            State Senate District 32

            State representatives Districts #146 and !47

National

            U.S. President (Joseph Biden (D), incumbent)

Our next regular YODC meeting will be held:

Saturday, January 27, 2024

From 11:00 a.m. until 12:30 p.m.

At the York Public Library, Community Room

At this meeting, we will summarize the 2024 election  process, including:

the YODC Caucus, which will be held on February 3, 2024,

the Presidential Primary Election, which will be held on March 5, 2024,

the State Primary Election, which will be held on June 11, 2024,

and the General Election, which will be held on November 5, 2024.

We hope you can attend, to understand the changes for the 2024 process, and to decide how you can help elect Democrats in 2024.

The 2024 York-Ogunquit Democratic Caucus will be held:

Saturday, February 3, 2024

            Doors will open at 12:00 p.m., and the caucus will start at 1:00 p.m.

            At the First Parish Congregational Church , Fellowship Hall, 180 York Street, York

Since this is the first year with a  primary vote for presidential candidates, there will not be a selection during the caucus for the President.

We do expect to hear from candidates for county and state offices, to start signups for the clean elections’ candidates, and of course, to rally you, our volunteers.  We will need to reaffirm our YODC bylaws, and elect the committee officers.

We also need to elect delegates to the York County Democratic Committee (YCDC), which meets the 2nd Thursday, monthly on zoom, and the Maine State Democratic Convention, which will be held in Bangor on May 31 and June 1, 2024.  If you wish to be a delegate for either, you need to be present at the caucus or have someone nominate you, and commit to being available for the meetings. York has 49 slots and Ogunquit has 6.

The 2024 Presidential Primary Election will be held:

Tuesday, March 5, 2024.

As Democrats, we will be selecting among three candidates for president.  Note that this will be first primary in Maine that is “semi-open”,  which means that any non-party enrolled voters will be allowed to choose a party to vote for its primary candidates.

As the year progresses, the YODC will join the other Seacoast Democrats to open a local office, to support our canvassing activities leading up to the election.  As in the past, we expect it to be the hub for our activities through the Election Day (November 5, 2024).

As before, there is a significant cost in opening and running a Seacoast Democrats office, and our YODC needs to contribute to this.   We would appreciate your contributions to the YODC both now and later in the year to support this effort.  You can contribute by using

Act Blue at https://secure.actblue.com/donate/yodc2023

or by sending a check to the YODC at 3 Cycad Ave, York, ME 03909.

Anticipating that additional funds will be required, your officers and a group of volunteers have begun to organize an online auction, which will run in early April.  It would be great if you can help us by contributing donations, or by helping us gather donations from others.  Suggestions for donations include:

a week or weekend at a vacation property,

tickets to concerts and/or sporting events,

handmade items (i.e. scarves, hats, gloves, sweaters, blankets, quilts, etc.),

lessons of all sorts (golf, horseback riding, etc., ),

lobster bakes, dinners at your home, prepared dinners that winners serve at their own homes, 

framed paintings, sketches, prints, 

and cookies, cakes, etc.  (once, or monthly for a specific time). 

Be creative and let us hear what you can offer! 

To donate, volunteer and/or for any questions regarding this on-line auction, please email:  yodcevents@gmail.com

 The auction will be run on BiddingOwl.com:

Dates to submit items for bids:   now until April 6, 2024.

            Dates to submit bids for purchase:   April 7 to 17, 2024