To give teachers a political voice within our local party, a new club was launched this fall under SCCDP’s umbrella: Democrats for Public Education.
“We’re starting a caucus supportive of educators,” said Ava Chiao, a San Jose high school teacher and newly elected Cupertino school board trustee.
As individuals, Chiao and other club co-founders joined James K Kim’s “Save Our Schools” campaign this fall to beat back the MAGA school board candidates, with Chiao running for office herself and winning.
Now they are looking to the new club to give teachers and allies of public education an organized voice within SCCDP. Read more about the work they envision here.
New Council Members Seated in San Jose
In January, the San Jose City Council appointed two people to serve as representatives for District 8 and District 10. We welcome the two new council members, Domingo Candelas in District 8, and Arjun Batra in District 10.
The process was transparent and followed the city charter, with many citizens stepping up to apply for the openings. The finalists, and the eventual appointees, all showed a depth of knowledge regarding the governing of San Jose.
The newly appointed council members will face the voters in March of 2024.
Voting rights on the ballot in Wisconsin
On April 4, Wisconsin will vote for two Supreme Court justices, deciding whether the Court has a liberal or conservative majority for at least the next two years. In 2022, a narrow conservative majority of the court issued a 4-3 ruling that banned most ballot drop boxes and third-party ballot delivery. We can’t let that happen in 2024, when Wisconsin will be critical to holding the White House and winning back the House. Click here to write postcards to voters in Wisconsin, urging them to elect Supreme Court Justices who will protect voting rights. Phone bank opportunities will be added soon, shortly after Wisconsin holds its February 21 primary.
Biden shines in State of the Union speech
Seeing President Joe Biden deliver his State of the Union speech made us proud to be Democrats. Proud to be members of the party that gets things done.
Inflation is falling, new jobs are being created. Bridges are getting fixed. Clean energy subsidies are rolling out. Insulin prices for seniors have been capped, and gay marriage now has federal recognition. COVID emergency declarations will soon be ending.
Still, as Biden reminded legislators, there’s more to do to finish the job.
Will Republicans heed his call for bipartisan cooperation? Unlikely: the new GOP House is threatening to not extend the debt ceiling, which would cause grave harm.
This is but one of many, many reasons why we are dedicating our resources to flipping the House back to Democratic control in 2024 - stay tuned!
Our (all-volunteer) officers re-elected
SCCDP’s governing body, the Central Committee, recently re-elected its officers to new two-year terms. Bill James remains as the chair, Jean Cohen as the vice-chair, Angelica Ramos as treasurer, and Helen Chapman as secretary. In addition, a slate of directors was approved, including some returning and some new members. All these officers and directors are volunteers. In fact, there are no paid positions in the SCCDP - everyone is a volunteer. Thank you to all those whose work keeps Democratic values strong here and nationally.
