Changing America one election at a time.

Next Tuesday, August 9 we will have our monthly meeting at the Lincoln Restaurant (4008 N. Lincoln Ave.). We have a full evening planned: we’ll have a panel of union leaders (Genie Kastrup from SEIU and Kristine Mayle from the CTU are confirmed) speaking on “Union Priorities for the 2012 Elections,” and we’re hoping that Tammy Duckworth, who is running for Congress in the new 8th Congressional District, will also be able to join us. She’s running in the primary against Raja Krishnamoorthi, who we heard speak at our June meeting. We will also be accepting nominations for Steering Committee – our by-laws require that you must nominate yourself if you wish to run (elections in September). The meeting will start at 7 pm, with dinner /social hour starting at 6 pm.

We potentially have two votes on the docket: Debra Shore, who is running for re-election for commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, spoke to us last month; and Ilya Sheyman, running for Congress in the 10th Congressional District. Ilya has one primary opponent: the winner of this race will go on to challenge Bob Dold (or whoever the Republicans decide to run). You can find more information on Debra Shore at http://www.debrashore.org/ ; information about Ilya Sheyman is at http://www.ilyasheyman.com/ ; information about the Tenth District is at http://libertyville.patch.com/articles/10th-congressional-district-race-... If you are a voting member and cannot attend the meeting, please send me your proxy vote by 5 pm on August 9. Also, if you wish to run for Steering and cannot attend the meeting this month, you may send me a proxy nomination as well. In order to run for Steering, you must be a voting member by the September meeting.

Though Raja Krishnamoorthi is also eligible to be voted on this month, we will postpone a vote on candidates in the 8th Congressional District until after we’ve heard from Ms. Duckworth.

Our other major event this week is our trip to Wisconsin to work on the recall elections on Sunday. Because this is a road trip, you need to either RSVP at the Democracy for America website:
http://www.democracyforamerica.com/events/35211-trip-to-wisconsin-wi-sen...

We need a firm RSVP list as soon as possible: we don’t want to get a bus that’s too big or too small.

Some details:
Date: Sunday, August 7, departing 9:30 am, from the parking lot of the Pier One at Broadway and Berwyn, 5304 N. Broadway (close to the Berwyn stop on the Red Line)

Travel to Milwaukee: we will be going up to canvass in the 8th Senate District for Sandy Pasch, running against Republican State Senator Alberta Darling – transportation to canvass locations will be provided. They have limited capacity for some phone banking, but would like to focus on canvassing. Yes, they will provide information on canvassing to first-time canvassers, and if you are a first-timer, you will definitely be paired with someone more experienced. Food and water will be provided there.

Returning: we plan to leave Milwaukee at 5 pm for the return trip
Campaign activity that counts toward voting membership: Yes!