On behalf of the 31st District Democrats, I want to extend a warm welcome to both new and returning members who attended our re-organization meeting on January 7 and our open house and pizza party on January 25. At the open house, volunteers joined with committee chairs to take the first solid steps toward the organized activism that will be needed in the coming days and years. Some of our members went as far as Washington, D.C., to join the alternate inauguration, while many here at home joined peaceful demonstrations in solidarity with millions of others across the nation and the world. It is clear that folks here are ready to get to work to resist and defeat the regressive policies and politics of the new administration.
Here in the 31st District, we will have both a State House and a State Senate seat up for special election in 2017. Control of our state legislature hinges on these races, and winning locally will help us regain the momentum that will take back the U.S. Congress and the White House. We are actively recruiting candidates for both of these positions, because one thing is painfully clear: you will lose exactly 100% of the battles you do not fight. We will find candidates to run who support our progressive values, we will muster our resources to help them run competitive campaigns, and no one will be able to say that we did not do everything possible to win.
To achieve victories, we will need to recruit more Precinct Committee Officers and train them to use tools like VoteBuilder and social media to carry the Democratic message to their neighbors. We will host fundraising events and we will put out a call for donations and volunteers from solidly blue areas to let them know that Democratic control of the Washington State Senate starts right here in the 31st District.
I know and trust that you are with me in this fight, and I look forward to a successful year.
Brian L. Gunn, Chair
