First HCDP Action Meet Up A Success!

First Action Meet Up A Success!

Over 30 people met up this past Wednesday for our first Action Meet Up. Thanks to all who attended. The group exchanged ideas, and had some great conversation. The energy in the room was quite high. This meeting was a trial, but it was quite successful so look for another meet up in March.

Local Action - March at the Lift Bridge

A small group of local women, including our HCDP Co-Chair, worked to organize a pro-democracy march this past Monday, President’s Day. The march was timed to coincide with the many other marches and protests taking place across the country under the banner of “No Kings Day”. You may have seen photos from participants who posted on Facebook or Instagram.

Estimates of the number of Houghton County attendees who braved the freezing weather ranged from 70 to 100. Many brought their own signs. After rallying in Bridgeview Park, holding their signs and chanting “Hey Ho, Trump and Musk have got to go!”, the group marched back and forth across the bridge. The reception from people passing by was generally positive.

TV6 News gave a brief look at the march here in Houghton in a news segment that gave much more complete coverage to the march held the same day in Marquette. The Daily Mining Gazette also featured the march on the front page of Wednesday’s edition, under the headline “No King! Trump subject of protest”. Michele Bourdieu’s local blog Keweenaw Now has a much more thorough report of the Houghton event, as covered by Alexandra Larsen.

Local Groups - AWAVE, Possibly Indivisible

AWAVE

The same group of women who organized the march at the Bridge are also working to raise awareness and organize future events, calling themselves AWAVE. If you’re interested in learning more or perhaps joining forces let us know by dropping an email to [email protected] and we’ll pass your interest along.

INDIVISIBLE

Another group of local citizens is exploring forming an Indivisible group here in Houghton County. Indivisible groups are organized and work at a local level with a mission to elect progressive leaders, rebuild our democracy, and defeat the Trump agenda. We’ll keep you posted as things progress. If you are interested in helping with this effort send an email to [email protected] and we’ll relay your interest to the folks working to form a group.

Action Resource In Focus

CHOP WOOD, CARRY WATER

Last week we mentioned that a group of our members had put their heads together to come up with a list of useful resources for action. These are resources to help make sure we are aware of what actions are needed right now, and how to take those actions. We shared the list of those resources here.

This week we’re highlighting one of those resources - the newsletter “Chop Wood, Carry Water” by Jessica Craven.

This weekday newsletter gives you easy, effective political actions to take to stave off despair, effect positive change and elect more true public servants.

Check out Chop Wood, Carry Water here, and then TAKE ACTION!

Spring Fling May 3rd

JOIN US AT THE 63RD ANNUAL SPRING FLING BANQUET AND FUNDRAISER

SATURDAY, MAY 3

DINNER, AWARDS, AND SILENT AUCTION

To donate items for the auction or to place an ad in the program, contact Nancy Verive. Email: [email protected] ph: 812-573-1403.

This year’s theme:

MEETING THE MOMENT

Watch future newsletters for more details! 

TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW!
$55 PER PERSON / $45 FOR STUDENTS AND SENIORS

Michigan Dems Elect Curtis Hertel as Chair

At the Michigan Democratic Party’s Spring 2025 Convention this past Saturday Curtis Hertel was elected the State Party Chair. He replaces Lavora Barnes, who announced she was stepping down after the November election.

In a letter to MDP members after the Convention Hertel promised, “In Michigan, we are going to work like hell to move our state forward, stand up for what’s right, and fight back against MAGA extremism coming from the Trump administration.”

Registration Now Open For the MDP Rural Caucus Summit

REGISTRATION NOW OPEN FOR RURAL CAUCUS SUMMIT

The Rural Caucus now has a theme and statement of purpose for their 3rd annual Rural Summit —

THE GREAT RURAL REVIVAL

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE:

This space is ours - to plan, unite, and resist harassment.

Through local leadership, community building, and organizing, our work starts now to build the power and strategies to move rural Michigan forward. We need your voice and energy in this effort. Join us to process what’s happened, and what’s next, and strengthen our collective commitment to our Democratic message.

News from Lansing

• WATERED DOWN SICK LEAVE AND MINIMUM WAGE LAW PASSED, SIGNED INTO LAW: Last week the state House and Senate passed a pair of bills that would amend Michigan’s minimum wage, tipped wage, and sick time laws. Governor Whitmer signed the bills into law on Friday. The move is opposed by those who favor a living minimum wage in the state. The bills are in response to the Michigan Supreme Court’s ruling striking down legislation previously passed by the 2018 Republican-led legislature. That legislation was a cynical attempt to forestall a citizen petition, an action ruled unconstitutional by the Court. Arguably the current legislation is just as flawed, and legal challenges are expected. One of the groups behind the original 2018 petition, One Fair Wage, has announced plans for another statewide referendum in response to Senate Bill 8. MORE: See this great explanation of the situation from Detroit’s WDIV TV4

• REPUBLICANS PICK NEW PARTY CHAIR: It wasn’t just state Democrats holding a convention this weekend. The state Republican Party did so too. For the second time the Republicans did NOT go for the Trump-backed candidate but instead chose former Oakland County commissioner and current state Sen. Jim Runested as chair. In remarks after his election Runested said he won because he didn’t pick fights with any of the factions within the party and presented himself as a “unity” candidate. All of this doesn’t mean state Republicans have turned over a new leaf - Runested is most definitely a Trumpist who, among other things, favors the continued operation of Enbridge’s Line 5 and was the sole NO vote in the Michigan Senate against adopting Juneteenth as a state holiday. MORE: AP News

News from Washington

• TOWN HALLS ERUPT WITH ANGRY CONSTITUENTS: It looks like Trump is getting his own Tea Party moment as resistance begins to make itself felt. Town hall meetings have gotten quite vocal over the last week. In places like Oshkosh and Green Bay WI, in the heavily Republican 7th District of Georgia, and across the nation voters are turning out at town hall meetings to vent their frustration and shout down their elected representatives. Much of the heat is aimed at the actions of Elon Musk and DOGE.

• JD VANCE SPEECH ATTACKS EUROPE, MEETS WITH FAR RIGHT LEADER WHILE SNUBBING GERMAN CHANCELLOR: His moves reportedly left European leaders shocked. JD Vance delivered scalding remarks to European democracies in a security conference in Munich on Friday the 14th. He accused the democracies of retreating from their values. The speech was met with mostly silence, and later denounced by many in attendance. Then, in a move widely seen inside Germany as foreign interference with their upcoming election, Vance met with the far right AfD party’s leader while snubbing sitting Chancellor Scholz. The German election was held this Sunday. The country’s conservative party won, with AfD coming in second. MORE: BBC News and Reuters 

• ECONOMIC VOTERS SOUR ON TRUMP: Polls released this week show that voters who favored Trump over VP Harris based on economic discontent are growing increasingly unhappy with Trump. Most Americans understand that Trump has done next to nothing to address inflation since taking office. Sixty-nine percent of voters now think Trump’s tariffs will result in higher prices. Meanwhile, the meme “Trump Take Egg” has gained popularity on social media in reaction to the continued rise in egg prices since Trump took office. MORE: Polls: HuffPost, Trump Take Egg: Fast Company

• THE BILLIONAIRE CAN’T ADD: Last week Elon Musk’s DOGE posted it’s “total savings to date” to their website, with a series of documents purported to show a savings of $55 billion dollars. News groups immediately dug in and analyzed that data and found numerous discrepancies, and said the data raises more questions than it answers. NPR titled it’s report “DOGE released data about federal contract savings. It doesn't add up”. Reporter Molly Jong-Fast interviewed economist Justin Wolfers on her podcast on Friday. He has some excellent insights into the “fuzzy math” of DOGE, and why the actions they’ve taken so far are not a large savings for the government, and don’t reflect a sensible attempt to root out fraud or abuse. You can find the podcast here.

• THE BILLIONAIRE GETS PUSHBACK: In somewhat of a surprise over the weekend several of Trump’s newly appointed agency heads pushed back on a directive from Elon Musk’s DOGE. The DOGE team sent a emailed request to employees throughout the federal government, telling them to list their accomplishments over the previous week or risk being fired. Among the agencies pushing back was the FBI, now headed by Trump appointee Kash Patel. "The FBI, through the office of the director, is in charge of all our review processes," said FBI Director Kash Patel, a Trump appointee, in an email to staff. MORE: Reuters

• HEGSETH, TRUMP PURGE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE: The Pentagon announced Friday it will fire 5,400 civilian employees this week, and says that is just the start. Also on Friday, Trump and Sec. Hegseth announced a purge at the top of the ranks, replacing several senior military officials. Among those hit were the Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. MORE: Military.com and USA Today

Governmental & Community Meetings

WED FEB 26

The Houghton City Council meets at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The Meeting Agenda can be found in the Searchable Document Center of the Council's website.

This newsletter is paid for with regulated funds by the Houghton County Democratic Party, and is not authorized by any candidate or candidate committee.

Contact us by email at [email protected] or by text or voicemail at 906-523-1233