Upcoming Events
Washington 4th District Public Calendar
Candidate Filing for 2020
Candidate filing week is May 11 through May 15. Those who wish to be elected Precinct Committee Officers for the 2021-2022 term must file their candidacy during this week. You can file online for free in just a few minutes with the following link:
Your district type is PRECINCT.
Click START for Precinct Committee Officer – Democratic
Then fill out your name as you want it to appear on the ballot and your contact information. Your contact information will be public record. Then SUBMIT your form.
Please Notice!
There has been a problem with the filing process for people who filed for PCO on Monday or Tuesday. The were irregularities in the original process set up by the Secretary of State’s office for PCO candidate filings. Those have been corrected. For a more complete explanation you can read Tina Podlodowski’s letter which is linked here.
If you filed for PCO on Monday or Tuesday, you must REFILE using the Secretary of State’s corrected process using the Candidate Filing link above!
Precinct Committee Officers are the official members who make up our local Democratic Party organization. Elected PCO’s will be choosing the new party leadership in our reorganization meetings in the December timeframe. Leaders will be chosen for the county and legislative district local party organizations.
If you wish to be at the heart of our local party decision-making, please file to be an elected Precinct Committee Officer with the Benton County Elections Department beginning May 11.
Click this link to file: Candidate Filing
2020 Campaign Boot Camp
Emerge has one goal: To increase the number of Democratic women in office who are reflective of the incredible diversity of the Democratic party by recruiting, training and providing a powerful network. Since 2002, Emerge has trained over 4,000 Democratic women to run for office and currently, 690+ Emerge alumnae serve in office.
Announcements
[See the Web Log for prior Announcements]
In Washington state, the Public Disclosure Commission has strict rules on what amounts to in-kind donations to political campaigns. Facebook has determined that it isn’t in their interest to do the necessary reporting to the PDC for political advertising. Our local political campaigns have been effectively cut out of using Facebook to spread their messages. Therefore, there’s a special need for local supporters to haunt their preferred candidates’ pages and assist in spreading their messages by Loving (not just Liking), commenting, and sharing their posts.
A new platform for 2020 has been approved. You can see it by tapping or clicking the following link.
Benton County 2020 Democratic Platform
Links to recently-approved resolutions have been added to the Documents and Resources page.
| Approved Bylaws, Policy Guide, and Rules Revisions to the three governance documents were approved in 2019. |
Committee News
[See the Web Log for prior Committee News write-ups. All meeting Minutes are available on the Documents and Resources page.]
We are working on a messaging campaign for use in all media that ends with the tagline, “—you might be a Democrat,” Take a look at our current list of messages on this Google Sheet. If you have more catchy lines, please send them to secretary@bencodems.org.
Here’s an excellent article on methods for activism to be effective. Practical Activism – Go for the Money
Our own Richard Badalamente has a cogent post on the contents of the Mueller Report, including the answers to a number of pressing questions.
BCDCC Officers and Subcommittee Chairs for 2019-2020
The Benton County Democratic Central Committee is searching for a Newsletter editor, if you’re interested please check out information here: https://www.bencodems.org/newsletter-editor/
Recent Events
See the Web Log for information about past events
Gary Kanter Concert And Picnic
The Tri-City Democrats are sponsoring a virtual concert and picnic.
Let’s have a virtual picnic and concert as a Zoom meeting. The details are below.We’ll get as many candidates to chat with us as we can starting at 6 and maybe do a bit of other business before the music at 6:30 or so.
Gary Kanter is a New York-born Songwriter/Humorist with a passion for topical songs in the tradition of Phil Ochs, Tom Paxton, and John Prine. His songs will make you laugh, cry, and think, though not necessarily in that order. His songs of labor and solidarity are reminiscent of labor icon, Joe Hill.Gary has also taken on the mantle of “labor troubadour,” having organized and performed at numerous benefits for organized labor including two concerts to fundraisers for the Wisconsin recall elections. He had penned two labor songs at the behest of the Northwest labor community including “Northwest Union Call” and “Right To Work Is Wrong.” He recently performed both at the Washington State Central Labor Council held in Vancouver, WA (7/13). “Right To Work…” was requested by the president of his own union local, Musicians’ Association of Seattle (Local 76-493, AFM) and will be featured on its website for universal access. “Northwest Union Call” is currently being produced as a DVD. Both songs were featured on his third CD, “Forever Vigilant.”
Zoom meeting topic: Gary Kanter performs for Tri-city Democrats
Time: May 8, 2020 06:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)Join Zoom Meeting
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Meeting ID: 940 6122 2184
Password: 680827
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Meeting ID: 940 6122 2184
Password: 680827
Online County Convention
We will have an online County Convention on May 3, 2020 at 2:00 PM. The only order of business will be the approval of the 2020 Benton County Party Platform. The platform is a consensus of the views of our local party on the issues facing our voters and our nation. It is part of the basis on which we endorse local candidates. Many people have worked diligently since the beginning of the year, to compile our platform.
In our online meeting, neither “wordsmithing” nor additional platform planks will be in order. Sections can be stricken out if the convention wishes to do so.
When we are closer to the time of the convention, there will be more information available on how to join the online meeting. We will be using the Zoom application for this, so install it and familiarize yourself with it beforehand. If you have question about how to install or use Zoom, please contact the Secretary at secretary@bencodems.org.
You can prepare for your participation by carefully reviewing our proposed platform by clicking or tapping the following link: Proposed 2020 Benton County Democratic Platform.
8th Legislative District Caucus
All Precinct Committee Officers should have received an emailed Call to Meeting which explains their role in the selection of the legislative district delegates. If you are a PCO and have not received this email, please notify your county Chair at chair@bencodems.org.
All Precinct Committee Officers will receive a digital ballot no later than 9:00 am on Sunday April 26th, 2020, and must complete that ballot, following all instructions provided, no later than 9:00 pm on Sunday May 3rd, 2020.
If you want to be a legislative delegate candidate and help select the national delegates who represent your presidential preference at the Democratic National Convention, please register at the link on this webpage, https://www.waelectioncenter.com/ .
Chavez & Huerta Student Poster Contest
From the Tri-Cities LULAC Council:
TRI-CITIES STUDENTS ARE INVITED TO DRAW/PAINT* The Washington State approved two symbolic state holidays -Chavez March 31st and Huerta April 10th. Students may enter contest an win prizes at the same time enhance their understanding about these iconic figures of our U.S. history. Ask your teacher/school/college for an entry form or call: 509.420.0596 email: port_ga@hotmail.com
Chavez & Huerta Student Poster Contest
PRIZES AGES 1ST Place 2ND Place 3RD Place
Category A Age 18+ $250 $150 $100
Category B Age 13-17 $150 $100 $75
Category C Age 8-12 $100 $75 $50
10 Students All grades 10 Art kits Honorary
Disability Awareness
Hosted by the Tri-City Democrats
Friday, March 13, 2020 at 6 PM – 8 PM
Benton PUD, 2721 W. 10th Ave., Kennewick, WA
Join us in March to hear from Nancy and Carly, local disability activists and self advocates, about the current affairs affecting national, state, and local disability communities. Topics will range from mention of the Disability Day of Mourning (March 1, 2020) to discussing the 30th anniversary of the ADA and how far we still have to go
Link to the event on Facebook
Tri-Cities Womxn's March 2020
Hosted by the Tri-Cities Womxn's March
March 8, 2020 at 1:00 PM
Volunteer Park, Pasco, WA
Link to event on Facebook
Hello All!! 👋🏾 We are excited to be planning this year’s Tri-Cities Womxn’s March. This year the march will be held on March 8th, International Womxn’s Day! This was done to honor Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, which coincides with the original Womxn’s March weekend. During that weekend, there are several special events that honor our black community that we encourage you to attend.
Join us for planning meetings Wednesdays at Barnes and Noble @ 6:30 pm. We would love your input!
Voting Party!
Saturday, March 7, 2020 at 1:00 PM to 4:30 PM
Location: Emerald of Siam, 1314 Jadwin Ave., Richland, WA
If you’d like some assurance you’ve completed your ballot correctly so that it will be counted as a valid vote, or if you would enjoy voting with a bunch of friendly people, come to the Vote Party at the Emerald of Siam! Do not need to be a Democrat to get help. No pressure to select any particular party or candidate, just an overwhelming desire to support participation in democracy.
Representation: How It’s Meant to Work
Hosted by the Tri-City Democrats
Friday, February 14, 2020 at 6 PM – 8 PM
Benton PUD, 2721 W. 10th Ave., Kennewick, WA
Potluck to start (at 6). At 6:30 we’ll start our meeting. We want to provide an introduction to the various ways we are represented locally (by precinct, Legislative District, County, Congressional District, Port, School Board, City Council, Fire District, etc). We also want to cover the upcoming presidential primary process, which is new to everyone. And we want to talk about what it means to be a Delegate in that process.
No Coverup Richland!
This Wednesday, hundreds of thousands of Americans will mobilize with a simple demand: Reject The Coverup! Start: Wednesday, February 05, 2020 • 4:00 PM End: Wednesday, February 05, 2020 • 5:30 PM Location: John Dam Plaza • 815 George Washington Way, Richland , WA 99353 Host Contact Info: Hodor@warmrock.net Click this link to the event in the Action Network to RSVP
Link to event on Tri-City Regional Chamber of Commerce page
Scheduled for Thursday, January 9 at 4:30! PM at the John Dam Plaza in Richland.
Click here for national event details
Scheduled for Tuesday, December 17 at 4:30 PM at the John Dam Plaza in Richland.
Click here to see the event on Facebook
Tickets are available
Alternatively you can send a check to BCDCC at P.O. BOX 636, Richland, WA 99252. Use the online link to determine the correct amount.
Please check the Facebook event for updates: https://www.facebook.com/events/438194486778943/
See the Web Log for information about past events.
Folks have been very active! Here are some pictures from recent events
| Documents and Resources |
The governance documents (Rules, Policy Guide, and Bylaws) are available on the Documents and Resources page.
Precinct Committee Officers (PCOs)
Precinct Committee Officers (PCOs) are responsible for organizing the precinct. However, in many precincts the PCO is vacant. .