In This Email

Mar 28, 2023

• Party News

  • NEW: Spring FLARE Event at MTU a Success for the Campus and Local Community

  • NEW: Rural Democratic Summit Filling Fast

  • NEW: Spring Fling ‘23

  • NEW: Early Voting Under Way for Wisconsin Supreme Court

  • NEW: More Good Things Happening in Lansing

• Upcoming Events

  • NEW: HCDP General Meeting for April

  • NEW: Resources from the LWVCC National Popular Vote Compact Presentation

  • NEW: MCDP Don Quixote Dinner

  • NEW: Campaign & Community Events

The Spring FLARE event at the Rozsa Center last Tuesday was a big hit, and drew support and participants from on campus and among the local community.

The event was presented by Keweenaw Pride and the Sustainable Futures Association at MTU. FLARE was initially envisioned as a counter to the Brandon Tatum event sponsored by Turning Point USA at MTU. That event sparked controversy when the MTU student government voted against approving funding for Tatum, a conservative radio host, but was overruled by the University administration.

Turning Point USA (TPUSA) is in its first year as a student organization at Tech. Nationally the group has strong ties to Donald Trump, including fundraising and promoting his 2020 presidential campaign. The national group receives funding from right wing mega-donors, and in turn provides funding to “right wing candidates for student government at universities across the country”.

Spring FLARE was a fair with 33 booths filled by 20 student organizations, 10 local businesses & community organizations and 8 artists. The second half of the event featured a live concert and dance floor. Attendance was estimated at just over 500 people.

The Copper Beacon has an excellent write up - Last-minute student event upstages TPUSA speaker - and says FLARE was “undoubtedly a hit, with many attendees and supporters expressing hope that this was just the start of an annual tradition.” The article also covers the TPUSA event, which despite weeks of publicity drew fewer people than Spring FLARE.

It's that time of year! The planning team has met, and things are getting organized for another Spring Fling. Start thinking Spring, and mark June 10th on your calendar for our annual get together.

We'll have more information on the event as we get closer to June 10th.

Early voting began last week for Wisconsin’s Supreme Court. The election culminates with in person voting on Election Day, April 4th. As we have mentioned before, although Wisconsin's Supreme Court elections are officially nonpartisan, the race could tip the court's ideological balance of power if liberal Janet Protasiewicz beats conservative Daniel Kelly. Kelly is a Trump ally and has ties to the "fake electors" scheme in Wisconsin. Should Protasiewicz prevail her presence on the Court would help protect reproductive and voting rights in Wisconsin.

The race has gained nationwide attention, with CNN calling it one of the most closely watched political contests this year, and the Washington Post saying that outside groups have spent over $20 million on the campaign.

Good things are continuing to happen in the Michigan legislature. Here are highlights from the last week:

• Following the Senate approval of a sweeping package of bills aimed at curbing gun violence, the House this week approved a part of that package regarding safe gun storage. The red flag and background check bills are still being worked on. More info...

• Governor Whitmer approved the repeal of the 2012 GOP backed "Right to Work" law, along with a bill restoring a construction industry prevailing wage law repealed by the GOP in 2018. More info...

• Democrats have introduced a bill into the House to ban child marriages in Michigan. Democrats have attempted to make 18 the minimum age for marriage in the state since 2018, but have made no progress in the previous GOP led legislatures. Between 2000 and 2021, over 5,400 children – some as young at 14-years-old – have been married in Michigan. More info…

We'll continue following along and summarizing legislative actions as the Democrats in Lansing continue to keep up the pace.

Upcoming Events

Our next General/ Meeting will be Wednesday, April 5 at 7 PM. You do not need to be a member to attend our monthly meetings, and we would welcome your attendance.

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

REMOTE ATTENDANCE: Join Zoom Meeting

Meeting ID: 857 2336 4884

Passcode: 851807

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The League of Women Voters of the Copper Country reports that there were technical issues with their March 23rd presentation and they were unable to set up Zoom.

If you attempted to attend, or even if you didn’t and are interested in learning more about the Compact, the League is making the presentation and flyer from March 23rd available online. In addition, you can view video from presentations to the Macomb County and Asheville-Buncombe County Leagues.

Visit the League’s website to view these resources.

From our friends at the Marquette County Democratic Party:

The inaugural Don Quixote Dinner is planned for Sunday, April 30 at The Northern Center. The theme of the event is to thank Marquette Democrats who ran for elected office in 2022 in the General Election as a candidate of the Democratic Party, but lost in their bid to represent the community. The dinner, which costs $40, is set to start at 5 p.m.

Anyone interested in attending the dinner needs to contact Carol Cappuccio at 906-373-9780 by Thursday, March 30. No funds from the Marquette County Party are being used, so a minimum of 30 tickets need to be sold for this event to be held.

Two Marquette candidates of the Michigan Democratic Party, Bob Lorinser (U.S. Congress) and John Braamse (State Sentate) will be the honored guests.

There are no local City, or Village Council, or County Commissioner’s meetings scheduled this week.

Wed 3/29

• Wednesday is National Vietnam War Veterans Day. The national observance was recognized by an act of Congress in 2017. Take a moment today to recognize and acknowledge the Vietnam veterans in your life.

Fri 3/31

• Friday is Cesar Chavez Day, a national commemorative celebration of the birthday of the civil rights and labor movement activist. The holiday was first proclaimed by President Obama in 2014.

• Friday is also the Transgender Day of Visibility, a day dedicated to celebrating transgender people and raising awareness of discrimination faced by transgender people, as well as a celebration of their contributions to society. The Day was officially proclaimed by President Biden last year.

Sun 4/2

• Sunday is the Christian religious holiday Palm Sunday. For observant Christians it marks the beginning of Holy Week, the week leading up to Easter.