There are about 256,000 registered voters in Weld County. There are about 45,000 active and inactive Dems in Weld County. There are about 78,000 Republicans and 128,000 Unaffiliated and about 5,000 other.

179,921 eligible Weld voters voted.  That means nearly 76,000 eligible voters in Weld County did not vote.  Of these voters that did cast ballots, sadly many only voted in the presidential race.  More people voted for Kamala than we have registered Dems, over 68,000, but also, over 106,000 votes went to Trump, more votes than registered Republicans.  This shows that a lot of Unaffiliated voters, chose not to vote.  Sadly, many registered Dems and Republicans didn’t bother to vote either (Weld County election results). 

Too many eligible voters are just not engaged with the process, or care about politics…and yet we had the biggest crowd I have ever witnessed in Weld County when Bernie and AOC came to UNC.  Nearly 11,000 came to that one event.  That event seemed to spark engagement, not just from students, but there was a diverse crowd in age and other demographics crowded inside and outside to hear a positive, progressive political message.

Had more of those non-voters shown up and actually voted, that anti-oligarchy rally may not have been necessary (Nationally nearly 90 million eligible voters did not vote).  To the hundreds, even thousands here and the hundreds of thousands all over the country showing up for marches and rallies; where were you all when we had caucus and assemblies, primaries and elections?  With more voter engagement, we could have shut and locked the proverbial barn door.  Why do we have all these frantic people waving signs wanting to do something about it now?  Too late, elections have consequences. We could have prevented this loss, stopped the chaos and stayed the course.

Obviously, we need a new plan, a new direction in which to actively engage our voters.  First, we need education on the voting process, highlighting the importance of each and every vote, and why high voter turnout is important for every race, every election.  We need to make voting relevant.  So many do not see the point or they think their vote won’t make any difference.  Next, we must make our messaging clear, and relevant to voters. I think when we have a platform with hundreds of planks and so many “me too” issues, groups and rights clamoring to be heard that it drowns out all messages, and we become just noise.  We need one solid message above all others, then maybe a few other issues, but we need to get behind a central theme, a unifying message that resonates.

While we have momentum, we should invite people to get involved, to become a part of something bigger than themselves.  By all means, even though the energy might have been better expended before the election, come to the rallies and marches (there will be marches on May 1 and May 3 in Greeley), bring a friend or your family and also get involved with other things.  Be bold and make your position and stance clear.  Use any means you can, including calling and writing your representatives, posting frequently on social media with verified facts, not just opinions, send out postcards, even buy a billboard like Chris Kauffman did in Garden City.  Protests changed the course of history in the past; just remember how it changed the course of the Vietnam war, the Civil Rights Movement, and even getting Women’s Suffrage passed.

A real way to make a difference might be this.  We are desperately looking for precinct organizers.  These are local grassroots leaders who can engage with their neighborhood and get out the vote.  We have over 200 precincts in Weld and not even half of these have a set of precinct organizers.  Honestly, this is one reason we lost so terribly last year.  Without this lifeblood of the party, we had a very anemic response and could not defend the body against the Republican infection.  Precinct organizers are the base of the party and are members of the central committee that elect officers and in addition serve a vital role as the vacancy committee if elected officials resign or die.  PO volunteers are also leaders who run caucus for their precinct and help pick who will be on the ballot!   

We have several candidates who have already stepped up to run in crucial state and congressional races and are looking for help and financial support.  We will need candidates for just about every house district, and other local races like school board, county commissioner and even mayor.  Think about running for office.  We need to find competent, thoughtful, hard-working and intelligent candidates, who voters will feel good about supporting. Many of these elected positions are paid.  Some pay very well; others may just pay a stipend or none at all.

So many people have voter’s remorse.  We must capitalize on this to propel our party and our candidates into office to undue the severe damage that is being thrust upon our democracy, our country and our constitution.  We cannot wait until next year’s mid-terms to get in gear and take action.  Step up to help us organize, reach-out to voters and non-voters, register new voters, and engage with Unaffiliated voters.  This is an area where we need help.  We would welcome our Unaffiliated neighbors to give us some insight on how to reach these voters and how to get our message to resonate with them. We could change the political landscape of Weld if we can get them engaged and motivated to vote for progressive issues and people.  The primary reason Colorado has a majority in the Legislature and in all the State leadership positions, and two Democratic senators, is because the largest voting bloc, Unaffiliated voters, vote 2:1 Democratic over Republican.  We need to make that happen in Weld.

The only things we need regret in life are the things we don’t do. Don’t let not voting, not acting, or not standing up to let your voice be counted, be your regret; like so many others now do. Don’t let that horsepower of voting get away from you through an open barn door and cause you remorse and regret.  Elections are coming soon, as are mid-terms.  No excuses, no regrets.