Congratulations ALL for your part in stopping Mitch McConnell and his reprehensible Trumpcare bill. But we must be vigilant. The Senate Republicans went to the White House to discuss strategy with the president and we know it only takes a keg party in the Rose Garden to make these frat boys fold. CONTINUE TO CALL YOUR SENATORS AND TELL THEM TO VOTE NO ON TRUMPCARE.
Over the next year our focus will be on local and state races where we can use our extensive issue research to evaluate candidates. First we have the local elections this fall in which we have a chance to strengthen the progressive presence governing our city. Julie Eiselt, Braxton Winston, Darrel Bonaparte, and Matt Newton spoke at our meeting about their run for city council. Dimple Shah is running for a town board seat in Matthews. And our Margaret Marshall is running for school board. Be sure to support the candidate of your choice and get out the vote.
Holly Wood, who leads SwingLeft13, shares her thoughts on the Ossoff race. “Despite our loss in Georgia, “… let’s be clear about one thing: Winning back the House next year is still very much in reach. According to polling expert Nate Silver, there are 47 GOP-held Swing Districts that are more Democratic-leaning than GA-06. And we only need to flip 24 of them.” We have two districts swingable near Charlotte: District 13 which runs from Mooresville to Greensboro and District 9- Pittenger’s district- which runs from south Charlotte to Fayetteville. With our help, in 2018, NC can contribute two seats to swinging the US House.
Keep up the good work! March On! Jan Anderson
Committee Reports or What We Did
Candidates and Votes continues to conduct voter registration this summer. We are registering voters two to three times a month at the Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services (DSS). Additionally, we will be doing ad hoc voter registration events at parades, gatherings, etc. To participate, send your name, email address and mobile phone number to Marsha Ford at mford6@me.com for upcoming events.
Lillian’s List Challenge Marsha Ford and Heloise Merrill challenged us to contribute to Lillian’s List, a NC organization dedicated to recruiting and training women for state and local offices. They will match your donation up to a total of $6000. For more information click here.
LGBTQ Interest Group Four CWM members represented the Charlotte women’s March at the June 11 Equality March.
Immigration Access to Civil Justice Act Eliminated in NC Budget Last week, the North Carolina General Assembly approved a budget that eliminated all $1.7 million in state funding to provide legal assistance to people who can’t afford representation in civil legal matters. The Access to Civil Justice Act is one of the public and private funding sources that Legal Aid of North Carolina, Legal Services of Southern Piedmont, and Pisgah Legal Services in Asheville rely on to help people with few options navigate their way out of crisis. One-third of Mecklenburg County residents, including immigrants, are financially eligible to receive these legal services. Without the help of these agencies, thousands of families may lose financial security, health care, housing and the stability that supports upward mobility (see Charlotte-Mecklenburg Opportunity Task Force report). The elimination of the Access to Civil Justice Act will have devastating effects on civil legal assistance across the entire state. For example, Legal Aid of North Carolina will lose $1.5 million in state funding, while the proposed budget from the White House seeks to eliminate Federal Legal Services Corporation funding, which also supports Legal Aid’s operations. The Governor vetoed the budget. The legislators overrode the veto.
Immigration Court Observer Project The CWM Immigration Action Team has joined ACLU’s Charlotte chapter as it begins the Court Observer Project. Volunteers will: receive hands-on training about immigration court proceedings, experience our justice system in action, gain perspective on the needs of our local immigrant communities, help immigrants in the Charlotte and surrounding area have a more consistent court experience. Join the team! – Court Observer Training Sign-up.
Committee Meetings
Thursday July 13
Science and the Environment
Contact Tina Maguylo at tmaguylo@gmail.com
for details.
Tuesday July 18
LGBTQ Group Meeting
Contact Jane Corey at janefcorey@gmail.com
for details
Keep us posted on what you have done: send your notices and photos to
charlottewomensmarch@gmail.com