Meet Chasten Buttigieg This Saturday at 10 AM

The Houghton County Democrats are proud to welcome Chasten Buttigieg! Come join us for a Meet & Greet with Chasten on Saturday October 19th at 10 AM at the Houghton Super 8.

Chasten Glezman Buttigieg grew up in Traverse City. He is a junior high school teacher, LGBTQ+ advocate, and husband of 2020 presidential candidate and current Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg.

Chasten served as an advisor, spokesperson, and social media campaigner during his husband's 2020 campaign. When Pete left the race he and Chasten both endorsed and campaigned for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Since that campaign, Buttigieg has considered Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff as close friends.

WHERE: Houghton Super 8, 1200 E Lakeshore Dr, Houghton, MI 49931

WHEN: Saturday, October 19th, 10 AM

RSVP: Sign up through Mobilize is appreciated (to help us know how many to expect), but not required.

PRINT AND SHARE the event flyer, available here.

An Important Voting Reminder

We're very happy if you vote the straight Democratic ticket. If you do, please -

DON'T FORGET TO VOTE THE NONPARTISAN SECTION! 

We're endorsing good strong candidates for Michigan Supreme Court - Thomas and Bolden - and for Houghton City Council: Cole, Irizarry, and Leddy.  We have signs for both races, so if you put one up next to your Democratic candidate signs, that will help your neighbors know about their progressive bona fides.

Office Hours

Monday: 5 to 7 PM

Tuesday: 4 to 7 PM

Wednesday: 5 to 7 PM

Thursday: 3 to 8 PM

Friday: 5:30 to 7:30 PM

Saturday: 10 AM to 8 PM

 323 Quincy Street, Hancock 

Yard Signs

DO SOMETHING - Dook Knocking & Other Opportunities

DOOR KNOCKING:

Come join us again this week to get out the vote for Kamala Harris, Tim Walz, and other Dems up and down the ticket! We're meeting in Cyberia cafe and knocking Dem and Dem-leaning addresses in Houghton. A friendly face at the door is a proven way to turn non-voters into voters!

Two opportunities again this week:

• Thursday October 17 at 5:30 PM

• Saturday October 19 at 4 PM.

To RSVP email [email protected] or fill out the volunteer form on Mobilize.us.

POSTCARDS and stamps are available, along with desired address lists - email [email protected] if you’d like to write and mail postcards. When you email we can arrange a time for you to pick up a target list and enough cards and stamps.

VOLUNTEER FROM HOME: 

Phone Banking: We encourage you to join the Harris-Walz Voter Protection Phone Bank. This effort reaches out to Democratic voters in states like Georgia where Republicans are “cleaning” the voter rolls and inactivating eligible voters. These voters are never informed they’ve been removed from the rolls. You’ll let them know they have been inactivated, and share how they can re-register before they go to the polls. Multiple opportunities are available daily through November. Click here to see the schedule and volunteer.

Voter Registration in Michigan: If you want to help out closer to home the Voter Registration Chase effort from the group Rust Belt Rising may be of interest to you. You’ll call fellow Michiganders as a follow-up to voter registration mailers. The people you will call would likely vote Democratic but are unregistered at their current address. Click here for more information and to sign up for one of the virtual training sessions available this month.

BE A NONPARTISAN ELECTION CHALLENGER OR POLL MONITOR WITH PTV: Promote the Vote (PTV) is offering training and credentialing for individuals interested in being nonpartisan election challengers or poll monitors.

From their website: “As our eyes and ears on the ground, nonpartisan challengers and poll monitors are stationed at polling places, early voting sites, and absentee counting boards … to monitor the election process. Our pro-voter volunteers make sure eligible voters can cast their ballots, free from interference and voter intimidation.”

Learn more and sign up for one of the many available remote training sessions on the PTV event web page.

Election Month is the New Election Day!

This is the first Presidential election year since Michigan voters approved the constitutional amendment that gave voters the right to vote early and in person at early voting sites for statewide and federal elections. Between mail-in / drop off absentee ballots, the newly available early voting period and Election Day itself, we Michigan voters now have more than 30 days available to us to vote this year. It’s truly no longer Election Day, but Election Month in Michigan.

Realistically, we now have LESS than a month - there are ONLY 21 days left until Election Day.

WHICH IS WHY WE WANT TO REMIND ALL ABSENTEE BALLOT VOTERS, AND ANYONE THINKING OF VOTING IN THE EARLY VOTE PERIOD, WHY EARLY VOTING IS SO IMPORTANT.

We’re going to take the lead from our friends the Benzie County Democrats and share their five reasons why voting early matters (slightly paraphrased):

1st: Once you’ve voted and returned your ballot you won't have to think about it any more. It's DONE!

2nd: (This applies to the mail-in voters) You can find more info if/when you see something on the ballot you don't know much about. Voting by mail can be a more informed, less hasty decision. That's good!

3rd: This is going to be a record-breaking turnout election, and lines may be longer than usual on Election Day. Get ahead of that by mailing your ballot or Early Voting!

4th: You'll make it easier on Get Out the Vote volunteers - you’ll be one less person they have to contact, so they’ll have a chance to call other, less-prone to vote folks.

5th (and maybe best of all): You'll make it a lot easier on yourself, too. All those phone calls you've been getting? Once your ballot is received, all those phone calls will stop! Silence is a beautiful thing!

There’s still time - though it’s running short - to request an absentee ballot online. You can request an absentee ballot here. You can also apply in person. If you’re already registered at your current address, you can request an absent ballot in person at your clerk’s office anytime up to 4 p.m. on the day prior to the election.

According to a report by NBC News this past weekend, close to 550,000 absentee ballots have already been returned in Michigan. So what are you waiting for? If you’ve still got your absentee ballot sitting at home, please vote today and drop it in the mail or take it to your local dropbox. And if Early Voting at the Houghton City Center can fit into your plans, please early vote!

On the Campaign Trail

UPDATES FROM THE PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS

ON THE ROAD WITH HARRIS WALZ

Campaigning is really going full tilt now. Last week VP Harris appeared on the Howard Stern Show, The View, The Late Show with Steven Colbert (where she shared a beer with the host). She was interviewed by 60 Minutes on Monday (former President Trump declined to be interviewed). She held a town hall with Latino voters, broadcast on Univision on Friday. She held rallies in Phoenix on Friday and Greenville, North Carolina on Sunday.

Governor Walz held rallies last week in Reno, Tucson, and here in Michigan in downstate Macomb County. On Saturday Walz took part in the Minnesota Governor's Pheasant Hunting Opener. On Sunday the Governor appeared on Fox News, where he did an excellent job.

So-called “surrogates” for the candidate have also been busy, with former Presidents Obama and Clinton holding rallies. First Lady Jill Biden spoke in Arizona, and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff made campaign stops and also appeared on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. Billionaire Mark Cuban appeared on Theo Von’s podcast, where he talked about why he is supporting the Vice President. Senator Bernie Sanders rallied for Harris/Walz in Marquette and Traverse City on Sunday (see button at the top of the newsletter for more on that).

Today, Kamala Harris is in Detroit, for a town hall hosted by Charlamagne Tha God, the host of the morning radio show “The Breakfast Club.” The town hall will be broadcast across 140 stations nationwide. On Friday the Vice President will be back in Michigan with visits planned in Grand Rapids, Lansing and in Oakland County.

TRUMP CONTINUES BEING TRUMP

Donald Trump has continued his ramped up campaign pace, holding rallies and appearances almost every day in the past week. On Thursday in Detroit, before the Detroit Economic Club he off-handedly insulted the Motor City, leaving folks wondering again about his cognitive state.

He made a stop in Aurora, Colorado on Friday, seemingly so that he could amplify his lies about Venezuelan gangs supposedly terrorizing an apartment complex in that city. Residents of the city were not happy.

Last week JD Vance made campaign stops in Pennsylvania and North Carolina, and he also attended a NASCAR race. He sat down for an interview with the New York Times, in which he again refused to say whether or not Donald Trump lost the 2020 election.

AND YET ITS STILL A TIGHT RACE…

Polls continue to tighten as we get closer to Election Day. While “Red Wave pollsters” (as we talked about in last week’s newsletter) explain part of that, they don’t explain national polls like those released by ABC, NBC and CBS over the weekend. Two of the three polls show Harris in the lead narrowly, with the third showing the two candidates tied.

The bottom line remains the same - this is a tight race nationwide, and the winner will come down to who can do best in swing states like Michigan. We have to keep our focus on electing Kamala Harris. She is keeping her focus on the things that matter to Americans. As Coach Walz says, WE HAVE TO LEAVE IT ALL ON THE FIELD. Let’s get back to work!

Our Next Monthly Meeting

HCDP Monthly Meetings: Unless otherwise communicated our monthly meetings are held the first Wednesday of each month. Potluck at 6 PM, Meeting at 7 PM. In the conference room at the Houghton Super 8, and by Zoom (starting at 7 PM).

NEXT MEETING: November 6th

Governmental & Community Meetings

TUE OCT 15

This month's regular meeting of the Houghton County Board of Commissioners is this afternoon at 4 PM in the Conference Room on the fifth floor of the Houghton County Courthouse. Find more information on the Board's webpage (find the Microsoft Teams virtual meeting info in the Agenda).

The Calumet Village Council meets tonight at 6:00 PM in the Village Council Chambers. More information on the Council, it's committees, and minutes of past meetings can be found on the Council's webpage.

The Laurium Village Council meets tonight at 6 PM in the Council Chambers of the Town Hall. More info can be found on the Village's website.

WED OCT 16

The Hancock City Council meets at 6 PM in the Hancock City Hall Council Chambers.