Happy Holidays from the Houghton County Dems!

It’s Christmas Eve - and Hannukah starts tomorrow!

The Houghton County Dems wish you and yours a happy holiday, and a 2025 that will be better than we all may fear!

We worked hard this election year, and we saw a record number of Houghton County Democrats turn out for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. But our hard work was not enough to carry the county for them, nor did our two leaders win the nation. Donald Trump may sit in the White House again next year, but we will never back down from upholding our values and fighting to protect our democracy.

We can all be proud of our part in sending Elissa Slotkin to the Senate, and in returning Kyra Harris Bolden for a full term to the Michigan Supreme Court, where she’ll be joined by newly elected Justice Kimberly Ann Thomas. And we re-elected Glenn Anderson and Gretchen Jannsen for four year terms to the Houghton County Board.

We once again want to say many thanks to all of you for your efforts this year. Have a good holiday and we will see you again in the new year.

Next HCDP Monthly Meeting is January 8

With the first Wednesday of the month in January being New Years Day, our January monthly meeting will take place the following Wednesday, January 8th.

We’ll meet at the Super 8 Motel in Houghton as usual. Also as usual, you can also attend by Zoom - the Zoom link is available below for readers of the email newsletter.

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 begins at 7 PM.

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

WHEN: January 8th

Registration for the Rural Summit will open February 1.

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. Top keynote speakers are expected again next year, along with training sessions on running for rural office, rural party building, messaging, and much more.

Click here to learn more about the Michigan Democratic Party’s Rural Caucus.

Hertel enters race for Michigan Democratic Party Chair, earns Governor’s Endorsement.

Former State Senator Curtis Hertel announced his candidacy for the Chair of the Michigan Democratic Party on December 16th, and immediately secured the endorsement of Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Hertel had run for the US House this fall in Michigan’s 23rd District (the Greater Lansing area) but lost to Republican Tom Barrett. The Governor is one of several state Democratic leaders to endorse Hertel.

To learn more about Hertel and his quest to be MDP Chair, visit his campaign website.

Though others may enter the race, at this point the only other announced candidate for MDP Chair is campaign consultant and activist Al Williams, who spoke with us by Zoom at this month’s monthly meeting.

State Senate Pulls Historic 29 Hour Marathon Session

It’s been a tumultuous end to Democratic control of the state legislature in Lansing this past week. The Michigan House will be in Republican control in 2025.

• On Thursday the House adjourned after a boycott by all Republicans, and Democrat Karen Whitsett, left Speaker Joe Tate without a quorum and unable to conduct the House’s business. Whitsett was a prominent Democratic hold out in last year’s fight to pass the state’s Reproductive Health Act. Her objections caused changes to the bill that many felt led to a “watered down” version passing. MORE: News Channel 3 Kalamazoo

• Republican House Minority Leader Matt Hall was defiant in defending the boycott by his fellow party members. He claimed Democrats “refused” to discuss “important” issues. Prominent among the issues he pointed to was “saving the restaurant industry”, a reference to Republican’s desire to override the Supreme Court’s ruling on Michigan’s minimum wage applying to tipped employees. It should be noted that seven other states extend their minimum wage to tipped employees. All seven apparently still have restaurant industries. MORE: WEMU, Public Radio for Washtenaw Co

• With the House forced to adjourn, hundreds of Senate passed bills will now “die”, likely for the foreseeable future. MORE: Bridge Michigan

• On Friday the Senate, wanting to pass and send to the Governor as many bills as possible, began their historic 29 hour session. A flurry of bills previously passed by the House were considered and passed, They now head to the Governor for signature. They include gun safety measures, bills aimed at easing access to birth control, child labor restrictions and more. MORE: Bridge Michigan

• Dozens of measures that Democrats had teed up and hoped to pass in this final lame duck session, including a ban on ghost guns and bills to expand Michigan's FOIA law to include the governor and Legislature did not get to a vote. MORE: Detroit Free Press

Campaign Sites for Candidates for Chair of the Democratic National Committee

In last week’s newsletter we provided links to video interviews of some of the candidates to lead the Democratic National Committee.

This week we have a listing of all the announced candidates to date, along with their campaign website, if available. We hope this will help you get a sense of who these candidates are and what they think we as Democrats should focus on over the next four years.

Minnesota State Party Chair Ken Martin

Ken Martin is one of two Midwestern state party chairs who are contending for DNC leadership. Martin heads Minnesota’s Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. He has led the party since 2011, and was inspired to a career in politics by the campaign of MN Senator Paul Wellstone, who’s slogan was “We all do better, when we all do better.”

• Ken’s campaign website: https://kenforchair.com/

Wisconsin State Party Chair Ben Wikler

Ben Wikler is the other Midwestern state party chair in the race. He has led the WI Dems since 2019. Under Wikler’s leadership the party has built the largest permanent staff of any state party, has mobilized tens of thousands of volunteers, and raised more than $100 million to support Democratic candidates. Wikler began his career in politics at the age of 11, stuffing envelopes for the Congressional campaign of his godmother, Ada Deer.

• Ben’s campaign website: https://www.benwikler.com/

Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley

Martin O’Malley is the former mayor of Baltimore and was Maryland’s governor from 2007 through 2015. He most recently served under President Biden as Commissioner of the Social Security Administration. He is a former chair of the Democratic Governor’s Association. In his campaign for DNC chair he is highlighting his executive experience and his record on progressive policies and grassroots organizing.

• Martin’s campaign website: https://www.martinomalleydnc.com/

Former DHS Official, Security Expert Nate Snyder

Nate Snyder was most recently Chief of Staff for the Office of Partnership & Engagement at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). After attending a meeting of state Democratic Party officials in Scottsdale, Arizona in early December he become concerned that “no one wants to sound the alarms” about the dangers to our democracy that lie ahead, and made the decision to run for DNC Chair.

• Nate’s campaign website: https://www.natefordnc.com/

New York State Senator James Skoufis

Skoufis is positioning himself as an outsider in the race. He’s running because “At a time when hard-working women and men across this country just want a fair shake, a government that invests in their families and keeps them safe, and the chance to build their own prosperity, we’ve got to rededicate to a populist message.”

• James’ campaign website: https://www.skoufisfordnc.com/

Others

The other declared candidates have less visible campaigns and might be considered “long shots”. They are:

Attorney and political strategist Jason Paul 

From Newton MA, Paul does not have a campaign website, but he does have a lengthy posting on Daily Kos where he outlines his bio, his thoughts on where we are as a party, and his plans if elected.

US Senate candidate Robert Houton

Also from Massachusetts, Houton is a former lobbyist and government relations consultant. Here is his Linkedin profile. He earned some press earlier this month for urging the Democratic Party to “be more like Trump”.

Michigan Democratic Party Spring Convention Next Feb. 22

The Michigan Democratic Party’s Spring 2025 Convention will take place Saturday, February 22 at the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center.

At the 2025 Spring State Convention, Michigan Democrats will gather by congressional district to elect district officers and members to the State Central Committee. On the Convention floor, Democrats will vote by congressional district to elect a Chair and two (2) Vice-Chairs of the State Central Committee.

All members of the Michigan Democratic Party are encouraged to attend the 2025 Spring State Convention.

The MDP Spring 2025 Call to Convention can be found here.

Governmental & Community Meetings

THIS WEEK

There are no scheduled city, village or county board meetings scheduled for this week. Merry Christmas!