Democrats of Greene County, Virginia (By the Greene County Democratic Committee) A source of information and inspiration for Democrats and other progressives in Greene County, Virginia

Upcoming Events       News of Recent Activities         Key Issues       Bulletin Board       How to Get Involved         Why We Are Democrats         Voting Procedures       About Us

Visit the Obama website and join his efforts to improve the economy, enact comprehensive immigration reform, and provide for rational action on gun safety. ************************** How To Register to Vote ************************** **************************

Democratic Primary Election June 11 Plan to vote On June 11 to select one of the two Democratic candidates for Lt. Governor and for Attorney General. Take a few minutes to learn about the candidates. Following are links to the websites of the Democratic candidates for the upcoming primary election. For Lt. Governor: Aneesh Chopra For Lt. Governor: Ralph Northam For Attorney General: Justin Fairfax For Attorney General: Mark Herring Fortunately, all four candidates are highly qualified and will be good representatives of the Democratic Party. Republicans have selected extremists to run for these positions, consistent with the extremism of their candidate for Governor. We need to start work now to make sure the mainstream Democratic candidates win in November. Here is the link to the website for Terry McAuliffe's campaign for Governor. Terry McAuliffe. He is unopposed for the Democratic nomination so he will not be on the primary election ballot.

Lisa Hystad Elected Chair of Fifth Congressional District Democratic Committee Lisa Hystad was elected Chair of the Fifth District Democratic Committee at a meeting of the new Committee on May 18 in Charlottesville. The newly elected Committee and officers will serve for four years. The convention that had been scheduled for May 18 was cancelled because exactly 20 applications were filed for the 20 positions on the Committee, and those applicants were then automatically elected as the new Committee. The new Committee members met on May 18 to elect officers. The Committee members will be serving as members of the Central Committee of the Virginia Democratic Party, as well as promoting Democratic activities in the Fifth District. The Chair of the District Committee also serves on the State Steering Committee, which governs all Democratic party matters between meetings of the state Central Committee. The Fifth District spans a large portion of central Virginia, from Fauquier County in the north to the North Carolina border in the south and encompassing 23 county and city jurisdictions, including Greene County. There are eleven Congressional Districts in Virginia.

Official Democratic Candidates for the 2013 Election The Democratic Party of Virginia has announced that the following candidates have successfully filed to be Democratic candidates for the 2013 election: For Governor: Terry McAuliffe For Lt. Governor: Aneesh Chopra and Ralph Northam For Attorney General: Justin Fairfax and Mark Herring A primary election will be held on June 11 to select one of the two candidates for Lt. Governor and Attorney General. Terry McAuliffe is unopposed to be the Democratic candidate for Governor.

Key Dates for the 2013 Election It is not too early to start working for Democratic wins in Virginia next November. Here are key dates to keep in mind. May 20 - Last day to register to vote in the Democrat's Primary election. June 11 - Primary to select Democratic candidates for Governor, Lt. Governor, and Attorney General. October 15 - Last day to register to vote in November election. November 5 - Election Day.

Why Is It Important to Vote in 2013? Democratic voters outnumber Republican voters in Virginia. This was shown in the 2012 general election when President Obama and Tim Kaine won their races for President and Senator. This was a repeat of Democratic wins in 2008 by Obama and Mark Warner. So why do we have a Republican Governor, Lt. Governor and Attorney General, and why do Republicans effectively control the General Assembly? Because many Democratic voters did not bother to vote in 2009 and 2011 when the Virginia elections were held. Does it really make a big difference which party controls Virginia's government? The answer is Yes, Yes, Yes. Even if you are only interested in Federal election outcomes, it makes a critical difference who controls Virginia's statehouse and legislature. This was particularly true in 2010-2011, when the Republican-controlled General Assemby and the Republican Governor controlled the process of readjusting voting districts in the state to reflect the results of the 2010 Census. The Republicans drew the new districts for the General Assembly Delegates and Senators, and for the eleven U.S. Congressional Districts. They carefully drew the districts to try to maximize the number of Republican wins, by packing Democrats into a few districts, thereby reducing Democratic strength in other districts. The impact of this redistricting was apparent in the 2012 election. Although Democratic voters were the majority statewide in the Presidential and Senate races, Democrats won only three of the eleven contests for the House of Representatives. The redistricting resulted in easy wins for Democrats in those three districts, while Republicans had smaller margins of victory in eight districts. And Republicans in Virginia are not satisfied with their success in gerrymandering in 2010-11. In January, 2012, Republicans in the Senate pushed through a bill to again change the state Senate districts to give the Republicans a better chance of victories in 2015 and beyond. Thankfully, the Speaker of the House killed that bill and it will not be enacted this session, but some Republicans have vowed to pass it before the 2015 elections. It is clear that many Republicans are willing to do just about anything to maintain and expand their control in Richmond. To emphasize the willingness of Republicans to ignore majority rule, they also attempted to pass a bill to change the way Virginia's Presidential electoral college votes are cast. Under current law, the Presidential candidate with the most popular votes in the state receives all of the state's electoral votes. The Republicans' bill would change this to allocate the electoral votes on the basis of votes in Congressional Districts (which have been gerrymandered by Republicans). If this procedure had been in effect in 2012, President Obama would have received only four of the 13 electoral votes for Virginia, rather than all 13. Fortunately for Virginians, this bill is dead for this session of the General Assembly. If Republicans continue in control of Virginia government we can expect more of these actions to overturn the will of the electorate. That is why it is extremely important that Democrats vote in November and elect a Governor and a General Assembly majority.

Some Election Results in Virginia and Greene County President Obama received 3290 votes in Greene County, or 36.5% of the votes cast for President. This compares to 3174 votes for Obama in 2008. Governor Kaine received 3374 votes, or 37.8% of the votes cast for the Senate seat. President Obama won the total Virginia contest by 110,000 votes, or about 3%, over Romney. Governor Kaine won his contest over George Allen by over 187,000 votes. General John Douglass received 2907 votes in Greene County, and about 43% of the total vote in the 5th District. Voter turnout in Greene County was very high, with 78.9% of active voters going to the polls, compared with 76.87% in 2008. Total turnout in Virginia was 76.77% this year, just slightly better than in 2008. It is clear that both Democrats and Republicans were highly motivated to vote in this election. All of you who worked to elect Democratic candidates deserve to take a victory lap and be proud of your achievements in helping to reelect President Obama and elect Tim Kaine to the Senate. We also can be happy that we were joined by 3,290 voters in Greene who voted for President Obama; 3,290 solid Democratic voters. We still have much more to do to turn Greene blue, but we can count on having at least 3,290 voters on our side. It is disappointing that General Douglass is not going to represent us in Congress. We know he worked very hard and did everything he could to win. Unfortunately, the gerrymandered Congressional Districts created by Republicans give a major advantage to their party. While Obama was winning by 110,000 votes in Virginia, Republican congressional candidates won in eight of the eleven districts, in part because a large percentage of Democrats are packed into three districts. That is one more reason to work to elect Democrats to the Virginia General Assembly in the future.

Facts and Talking Points About "Obamacare" Republicans have done an amazing job of spreading lies and distortions about the Affordable Care Act - or what is more generally known as "Obamacare". The reelection of President Obama, and Democratic control of the Senate, means that the Republican promise to repeal this legislation is not going to happen. But there is still much work to be done to implement this legislation, and we need to help ensure that it is fully implemented in Virginia. Click here to go to the page on this website providing facts and talking points about the Affordable Care Act. Help spread the truth about this historic legislation passed by Democrats in Congress without any Republican support.

Suggestions Welcome If you have suggestions about the content or format of this website, please email Carlyle Hystad at carlyleh@hughes.net

Copyright 2012, Greene County Democratic Committee