Category: Organizational

Sign up to be a 5th District Delegate

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If you want to play a more active role in democracy — and, maybe, hopefully, help kick avid seditionist Bob Good out of office — now’s your chance.

We need to send delegates to upcoming Congressional caucuses for Virginia’s 5th and 7th districts. At those virtual meetings, some of our delegates, along with others from neighboring counties, will be chosen to represent our districts at the State Central Committee.

We need 31 delegates from Albemarle County for the 5th district, and 1 delegate from the Free Union corner of the 7th district. If you’d like a shot at representing Albemarle for either of those districts, here’s the timeline to get involved.

FOR THE 5TH DISTRICT:

  • By Feb. 10: Apply online here to represent Albemarle at the 5th district caucus.
  • Feb. 15 at 6 p.m.: The Albemarle Dems will meet virtually to vote on who we’re sending to the 5th district caucus.
  • March 5: If you’re chosen to be one of those 31 delegates, you’ll attend another virtual meeting where the 5th District Dems will vote on who’ll represent us statewide. Those delegates will meet six times in the coming year to coordinate campaign strategy for this fall’s elections.

FOR THE 7TH DISTRICT:

Email us here, and we’ll connect you with the answers you need. Thanks for your time and interest in helping with these important roles!

Message from our new Chair, Amy Laufer

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Hello and Happy Holidays,

My name is Amy Laufer, I am proud and humbled to say that I have recently been elected Chair of Albemarle County Dems.

I have lived in the Charlottesville area for over 20 years, but I am originally from Wisconsin, actually a dairy farm! I have a BS in Geology and an MA in Education. I’ve been involved in politics since I was elected to Charlottesville City School Board in 2010. I served on the board for seven years and was both Vice Chair and Chair. In 2014, I founded a PAC called Virginia’s List, we support democratic women running for state office. I ran for City Council and State Senate District 17. The 17th district was definitely a red seat but we moved it 10+ points during my campaign, achieving 48% of the vote. With the new maps coming out, I will say, I am interested in running for office again and will let you know my decision as the maps are finalized and election date is determined.

I am excited to take on this new challenge. I’m grateful for the leadership of Stephen Davis and that he asked me to take on this role. These are big shoes to fill and I don’t take that lightly!

I am most interested in making sure we maintain a democratic majority in local government, diversifying our committee and candidates as well as helping to get out the democratic message more broadly to our community. Please feel free to contact me amy@amylaufer.com.

Sincerely,

Amy Laufer

Albemarle Democratic Committee Statement on Events of January 6

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January 25, 2021

The Albemarle Democratic Committee joins with Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, Governor Ralph Northam and the Democratic Party of Virginia in condemning in the strongest possible way the insurrection and attack on our nation’s Congress, incited by former President Donald Trump and other prominent Republicans, as it met to ratify the votes of the nation’s citizens electing Joseph Biden and Kamala Harris as our next president and vice president. We ask that the U.S. Senate hold former President Trump accountable for these actions during the impeachment trial.

We also reject and condemn the attempt by Bob Good, the 5th District’s Representative to the House of Representatives, to “object to the certification of electors in multiple states” even though those states have certified the accuracy of the vote counts, and we join others in calling for his immediate resignation and removal from Congress.

We pledge to work with our Senators and Governor to take action to ensure that such unlawful and undemocratic action does not recur and we pledge to abide by the principles of the Democratic Party of Virginia to promote a healthy democracy; free, fair, and secure elections; equal justice under the law and adherence to the rule of law.

Message from Albemarle Democratic Committee Chair Richard Brewer

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Greetings Albemarle Democrats!

Albemarle County has changed quite a bit from the small town I grew up in and I am honored to have the opportunity to serve with our new Committee to elect the next generation of leaders who will have such a profound effect on the future of our wonderful community.

National politics are scary right now and garner the lion’s share of media’s attention, however, it is the local races that will have the most significant impact on your day-to-day lives, the quality of education our children receive, and the growth of our community.

This year we will elect our representatives to the US Congress and Senate, allowing us to focus on only two incredibly important races. However, it is the work we do this year that will have an enormous impact on the 17 (that’s right, 17!) races that Albemarle County voters will decide on in 2019. Those races will determine control of the School Board, the Board of Supervisors, the House of Delegates, and the State Senate. The stakes could not be higher!

We have enjoyed tremendous success over the last 5 years with all Democratic or Democratically endorsed candidates, except for one race, winning the Albemarle County portion of their districts. Our only loss was the result of an embarrassingly low turnout of the electorate.

This success has not been by chance, and is the result of your hard work door knocking and organizing, the quality of our candidates and their commitment to campaigning, and the extreme nature of the Republican party.

Our tent has grown by welcoming the new energy outraged by the extreme factions of the right and the Republican party has shrunk to the point they openly welcome White Nationalists and elect leaders like Donald Trump. A big tent means we do not always agree on every issue, but we welcome fresh ideas from people who share our core values of caring about others and wanting to make a difference in our community.

I urge you to engage yourself even more with our new committee, look for ways to help our candidates and campaigns, consider running for office yourself, and most importantly, VOTE. When Democrats show up to vote, we all win!

Thank you,

Richard Brewer