2018 election recap and appreciation

Fellow Granville Democrats, it's been my privilege to serve as your acting chair during this 2018 election season. After months of organizing and preparation, the NC Dems have succeeded in breaking the Republican supermajority in the NC legislature! This marks a turning point in stopping one-party rule in Raleigh and restoring free and fair elections.We also lost some important races, but we fought hard for them. I'm extremely proud of all the work we've done. There are too many people to thank individually here, but here are some of the more prominent roles you played:

• the Executive Committee who steered the ship and faithfully kept the books;
• our summer interns who helped to reach out and register new voters;
• the event planners who raised our visibility in the community and made our Unity Dinner such a success;
• the fundraisers and donors who helped us to establish a working headquarters;
• the office staff who kept things up and running;
• the organizers who wrangled a large and changing volunteer workforce;
• the canvassers (some from across NC) who tirelessly knocked on doors, made phone calls, educated and inspired their fellow Democrats;
• our precinct chairs who helped to share the load;
• the poll greeters who guided voters to our endorsed candidates;
• the Election Day poll observers who kept a sharp eye out for problems;
• and of course, our Democratic candidates who worked tirelessly, showed up inmore places than I can count, and inspired all of our efforts.

Now it's time to catch our breath, document the lessons learned, and think about how we can stay engaged in the "off years" ahead. (By now, I hope we agree that there's no such thing as an off year.) We need to stay engaged in local government and in service to our neighbors. I'll have much more to say about that in a future post, but for now, let's celebrate all that we've built and accomplished in 2018.=jimA=