County Convention and Monthly Meeting Tomorrow

County Convention and Monthly Meeting Tomorrow Evening

Our County Convention and next Monthly Meeting will begin tomorrow night at 7 PM.

The potluck dinner begins at 6 PM.

POTLUCK AT 6PM

Bring a dish to share - whether homemade or store bought - and enjoy some quality time with your fellow Dems before we settle down to business at 7. And don’t worry, if you’re not a good cook and don’t have time to shop, we’d still love for you to stop in and enjoy some food and conversation.

JOIN US FOR OUR COUNTY CONVENTION ON DECEMBER 4TH

CALL TO CONVENTION

The Houghton County Democratic Party will conduct our County Convention on December 4th beginning at 7 PM. The purpose of the Convention is to elect those persons who will constitute the County Committee of the Party.

VOTING AT THE CONVENTION

In order to vote at the County Convention:

• You must be a member of the Michigan Democratic Party for at least thirty (30) days prior to the Convention.

• Precinct delegates, Democratic elected officials and Democratic nominees to partisan offices are exempt from the thirty (30) day advance membership requirement, and may become members ON the day of the Convention.

• If you are a former member of the MDP whose membership has lapsed in the thirty (30) days prior to the Convention, you can be eligible to vote at the Convention when you renew your MDP membership on the day of the Convention.

REMOTE ATTENDANCE: Remote attendance is via Zoom. Email readers can click the button at the end of this item at 7 PM on Wednesday to be connected to the Zoom session.

MONTHLY MEETING FOLLOWS IMMEDIATELY AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE CONVENTION

You do not need to be a member to attend our monthly meetings, and we would welcome your attendance. Monthly meetings are held on the first Wednesday of each month unless otherwise communicated.

IN PERSON: The meeting will be held in-person at the Super 8 Motel in Houghton.

REMOTE ATTENDANCE: Remote attendance is via Zoom. Email readers can click the button below at 7 PM on Wednesday to be connected to the Zoom session for the County Convention and Monthly Meeting.

News of Interest from Across the State and Nation

ACROSS THE STATE

WHOOPING COUGH ON THE RISE IN MI: “With a declining rate of immunizations, we are unfortunately seeing a rise in pertussis and other vaccine preventable diseases statewide.” So says Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, Chief Medical Executive for the State of Michigan. Health officials have identified at least 830 cases of whooping cough, also known as pertussis, so far this year, surpassing last year’s total and blowing past the annual average of 596 cases from 2017-19. MORE: MLive

LAWSUIT CHALLENGES RENEWABLE ENERGY LEGISLATION: A lawsuit filed November 8 is challenging the renewable energy siting law Public Act 233, passed by the Michigan legislature last year. Seventy townships and several counties have joined the suit.

We first told you about this legislation, and the rationale behind it in our Nov. 28, 2023 newsletter (see the item “Clean Energy Legislation and Local Control”. It was a topic again in our May 7th newsletter of this year, when we encouraged you to decline to sign the “Citizens for Local Choice” petition. That May 7th item is worth a re-read to understand the current lawsuit. MORE: Bridge Michigan

BIPARTISAN SUPPORT TO KEEP LOWER WAGES FOR TIPPED EMPLOYEES: Is this a sign of things to come when Republicans regain the majority in the state House? Bridge Michigan reports that a “bipartisan team” of state legislators believe they have a “solution” to handling the Michigan Supreme Court’s decision in July of this year on minimum wage legislation.

The Court held that the Republican-led legislature erred in 2018 when it adopted, and then quickly modified, a citizen initiative to raise the state’s minimum wage and eliminate the state’s tipped employee wage during the same legislative session.

The so called solution? To reinstate the legislature’s overruled modifications that kept the low tipped wage while raising the overall minimum wage to $15. Impacts on changes to sick leave are unclear. Business leaders are supportive of this new “solution”. MORE: Bridge Michigan

FAKE ELECTORS CASES TO CONTINUE IN MICHIGAN: The Michigan Attorney General's Office filed in court last week seeking to advance charges to trial against Michigan Republican electors who signed a document in 2020 falsely claiming Donald Trump had won the state's election. AG Dana Nessel is continuing this case while at the same time Special Counsel Jack Smith has sought to dismiss federal charges against Trump himself for attempting to overturn the 2020 election. MORE: Detroit News

GM FACES VOLATILE FUTURE IN TRUMP SECOND TERM: Donald Trump is expected to make policy changes as President that would negatively impact EV adoption in the US. Those changes could force General Motors to revisit it’s commitment to offer a line up of solely EVs by 2035, and analysts say the financial impact could be high. Industry experts expect that GM will be forced to adjust its vehicle production mix, and may need to make job cuts in order to adjust. MORE: Detroit Free Press

ACROSS THE NATION

PRESIDENT BIDEN PARDONS HIS SON HUNTER: In a reversal of his previously stated position President Biden pardoned his son Hunter over the Thanksgiving weekend. The pardon is “full and unconditional” for any offenses his son has “committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024." In a statement the President said, “I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision." MORE: NBC News

RACE FOR DNC CHAIR ALREADY HAS CONFIRMED CANDIDATES: Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler became the latest person to announce he will be a candidate to replace outgoing DNC Chair Jaime Harrison. Wikler told CNN this Sunday that he’s throwing his hat in the ring. Others who’ve also announced include former Maryland governor and Baltimore mayor Martin O’Malley, and Minnesota Democratic Party chairman Ken Martin. Michigan state Senator Mallory McMorrow has also stated that she is “taking a serious look” at running. MORE: Newsweek

POSITIVE SIGN FOR THE CLIMATE?: Here’s a piece of good news for the climate in the second Trump administration. The Wall Street Journal reports that Donald Trump’s campaign promise to eliminate the Inflation Reduction Act - and it’s historic climate policy fueling billions of dollars of investment in renewable energy - is facing a serious if surprising roadblock. It seems that Republican legislators whose constituents are benefiting from those investment dollars and associated jobs don’t appear to want to go along. “Even though not a single Republican in the House or Senate backed the Democratic package, today there likely isn’t enough support in Congress to pass a repeal,” the Journal says.

TRUMP’S CABINET NOMINEES RECEIVE MIXED RECEPTION: Trump’s demand that the Senate forego it’s Constitutional responsibility of advise and consent on Cabinet nominees seems to have gone nowhere, and several of his nominees have gotten a mixed but muted reception by Senators.

The Washington Post highlighted the many Trump picks that have faced sexual misconduct allegations. MSNBC meanwhile has focused on the number of Cabinet nominees with ties to the very unpopular Project 2025, while Business Insider focuses on the fact that we seem to be headed for government of the billionaires, by the billionaires, and for the billionaires.

Trump’s first nominee for Attorney General, Matt Gaetz, has already withdrawn amid intense controversy, but his announcement on Sunday of Kash Patel as nominee to head the FBI has unleashed a storm at least as loud. Patel joins Pete Hegseth, Tulsi Gabbard and Robert Kennedy Jr. as the 4 least qualified and most objectionable nominees.

For a complete list of Trump’s picks for his Cabinet and other top posts (as of this weekend) see this article from Reuters.

Virtual Training on Repeat - What is a Precinct Delegate?

We’ve talked before about the importance of precinct delegates to the functioning of a County Democratic Party, and the need for more folks to step up to this important role.

The precinct delegate is the elected office closest to the people. As a precinct delegate you would represent the people of your precinct to the party, and represent the party back to your constituency. Precinct delegates help get people involved in the party and in campaigns. They represent the party in its local conventions, and help shape the party’s platform and public positions. Precinct delegates are the foundation of the party.

If you are interested in, or have thought about becoming a delegate for your precinct there is another Zoom-based training opportunity being offered in December by the National Democratic Training Committee. The course will help you better understand not only the role and responsibility of a precinct delegate, but also help explain how local county parties like ours work.

WHAT: What is a Democratic Precinct Delegate?, an NDTC Virtual Live Training Course

WHERE: By Zoom

WHEN: Monday, December 9th from 1 to 2 PM. This is a live training session. It will repeat, so if you can’t make this time slot we can help you find the next session.

SIGN UP: https://www.mobilize.us/mobilize/event/743606/

Our Next Monthly Meeting

Our general party member meetings are the first Wednesday of every month at the Super 8 Motel in Houghton at 7:00 p.m. unless otherwise announced. You can also attend by Zoom - your email newsletter will have the Zoom details for each meeting.

You do not need to be a member to attend our meetings, and we would welcome you to join us.

WHAT: Potluck at 6 PM, Meeting immediately following the County Convention which begins at 7 PM.

WHERE: In the conference room at the Houghton Super 8, and by Zoom

WHEN: December 4th

Third Annual MDP Rural Caucus

Mark your calendars - our friends in the Rural Caucus have let us know that the 3rd annual MDP Rural Caucus Summit will be held next April 10th through the 12th. The Kewadin Casino and Resort in Sault Ste Marie will once again be the venue.

Several HCDP members attended the last Summit and all reported that it was a worthwhile event. Top keynote speakers are expected again next year, along with training sessions on running for rural office, rural party building, messaging, and much more.

Governmental & Community Meetings

THU DEC 5

The South Range Village Council meets Thursday at 6 PM in the South Range Community Building. For more information contact the Village at [email protected] or (906) 482-8833